Triacylglycerol biosynthesis in plants

据估计，加拿大的油菜籽产业每年的种子和油料出口额为30亿美元，与国民经济相关的活动价值138亿美元。在全球范围内，不断增长的收入、人口增长和对可再生液体燃料的迫切需求正在推动对种子油的前所未有的需求。我的研究计划的总体目标是了解如何控制种子油的形成，以此作为开发种子油含量更高的油菜籽或具有所需特性的食用油和非食用油的基础。在种子发育过程中，一系列造油酶驱动种子油的形成。这些酶的作用既可以影响形成的油量，也可以影响油的组成和性质。拟议的研究计划侧重于驱动石油生成途径中第一个和最后一个反应的酶。我们将学习途径中最后一种酶的结构如何影响酶的工作能力。此外，我们打算研究这种酶如何与产油植物细胞内的膜网络相互作用。所有这些信息都将有助于设计“高性能”形式的酶，用于油菜籽生物技术，以提高种子含油量和/或改善种子油质量。在对产油途径中的第一种酶的研究中，我们将研究产油细胞“遗传蓝图”中的信息如何转化为功能酶，以及这种酶在种子发育过程中如何控制数量。我对植物油形成的研究依赖于许多学科的方法，包括生物化学、分子生物学、育种、组织培养和分析化学。拟议的研究计划还将有助于在新兴的植物脂肪研究领域培养高素质的人员。

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.