Triacylglycerol biosynthesis in plants

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Canada's canola industry is worth an estimated $ 3 billion in seed and oil exports, and $13.8 billion in associated activity to the national economy each year. Globally, rising incomes, population growth, and an urgent need for renewable liquid fuels is driving an unprecedented demand for seed oils. The overall goal of my research program is to understand how seed oil formation is controlled as a basis for developing canola with increased seed oil content or oil with desired properties for food and non-food applications. During seed development, a series of oil-building enzymes drive the formation of seed oil. The action of these enzymes can influence both the quantity of oil formed and the composition and properties of the oil. The proposed research program focuses on the enzymes driving the first and last of the reactions in the oil-building pathway. We will learn how the structure of the last enzyme in the pathway affects the ability of the enzyme to do its job. In addition, we intend to study how the enzyme interacts with the membrane network within the oil forming plant cell. All of this information will be useful in designing "high performance" forms of the enzyme for use in canola biotechnology to increase seed oil content and/or modify seed oil quality. In research with the first enzyme in the oil-building pathway, we will investigate how the information in the "genetic blueprint" of the oil-forming cell is converted to functioning enzyme and how the quantity of this enzyme is controlled during seed development. My research on plant oil formation relies on methods from numerous disciplines including biochemistry, molecular biology, breeding, tissue culture and analytical chemistry. The proposed research program will also contribute to the training of highly qualified personnel in the burgeoning area of plant lipid research.