ANR / Increasing oil content by redirecting carbon flux during seed development. Project acronym: SYNERGY (Seeds Yield eNERGY)

发展可再生能源面临着紧迫的环境和经济压力。生物燃料是这种可再生能源的重要组成部分，前提是生产不影响粮食生产的土地使用，并且生产成本保持在较低水平。从油料作物的三酰甘油中提取的生物柴油比淀粉或糖基乙醇更受欢迎，因为它具有更高的单位体积能量和较低的加工成本。加拿大是世界油籽作物生产的领头羊，可能是生物柴油的主要供应国。然而，更广泛地采用生物柴油的障碍与种子油的成本和有限的供应有关。为了克服这一障碍，油籽产量需要提高。提高产油量的一种方法是改变种子中碳的分配，使其有利于油的合成，而不是贮藏蛋白质和种子碳水化合物。这种方法需要了解支配种子发育和种子储备积累的遗传决定因素。我们建议与工业界合作

There are urgent environmental and economic pressures to develop renewable sources of energy. Biofuels represent an important component of such renewable energy provided that production does not compromise land use for food production and production costs are kept low. Biodiesel derived from the triacylglycerols of oilseed crops is preferred over starch or sugar-derived ethanol because it has higher energy per unit volume and processing costs are low. Canada is a world leader in the production of oilseed crops and could be a major supplier of biodiesel. However, a barrier to a more widespread adoption of biodiesel is associated with the cost and limited supply of seed oils. To overcome this barrier oilseed yields need to be improved. One approach to enhancing oil yield would be to alter the partitioning of carbon in seeds to favour the synthesis of oil over storage protein and seed carbohydrate. Such an approach requires knowledge of the genetic determinants governing seed development and reserve accumulation in seeds. We propose to collaborate with industry