Plant Lipid Biochemistry
Plant
lipid biochemistry is enjoying unprecedented growth as pressure looms for the global vegetable oil market
to meet an ever increasing demand for both edible oils and sustainable substitutes for petrochemicals.
Not only is there great interest in increasing vegetable oil yield and modifying the fatty composition
for a widening array of specialty applications, but researchers are beginning to consider the potential
for introducing oil-formation pathways into traditionally non-oleaginous tissues, such as leaves.
The success of these modifications will largely depend on our ability to untangle the complex molecular events
at the heart of plant lipid synthesis on both a genetic and biochemical level.
The rise of functional genomics and associated resources has greatly enhanced our “big picture” view
of plant lipid metabolism, but has at the same time reminded us of how much there is left to learn.
The emergence of lipidomics promises to couple functional genomics and systems biology with cutting-edge lipid analytical techniques,
bridging a vital gap between gene function and in vivo physiological outcomes.
The converging of molecular genetics, cell biology, physiology, biotechnology, lipid analysis and bioinformatics means that, more than ever, plant lipid biochemistry is a truly multidisciplinary science. Sharing of information across disciplines is vital to ongoing progress in plant lipid biochemistry and biotechnology, and the Lipid Library and its Plant Lipid Biochemistry sub-site are essential gathering places for such information exchange.
- Plant fatty acid synthesis (by John L. Harwood)
- Arabidopsis acyl-Coenzyme A binding proteins (by Mee-Len Chye)
- Biosynthesis of plant lipid polyesters (by Isabel Molina)
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- June 30th, 2010 - Phosphoinositide signaling in plants (by Ingo Heilmann)
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- August 13th, 2010
- Plant lipidomics (by Ruth Welti) -
- August 3rd, 2010
The following topics are in preparation and are expected from August onwards-
- Plant sphingolipids (Edgar B. Cahoon)
Plant triacylglycerol synthesis
(David C. Taylor, Jitao Zou and Randall J. Weselake)- Plant fatty acid elongases (Joerg Bauer)
- Plant oil bodies (Anthony Huang)
- Metabolic engineering of plants to produce very-long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (Johnathan Napier)
- Plant acyl-CoA synthetases (Jay Shockey)
- Production of unusual fatty acids in plants (David Hildebrand )
- Production of hydroxy oils in plants (Mark Smith and Thomas McKeon)
- Triacylglycerol mobilization in plants (Peter J. Eastmond)
- Enzymology of oxylipin synthesis (Ivo Feussner)
These papers from numerous experts in the field will serve as valuable resource to a broad range of researchers and students involved in various aspects of plant lipid science. As with other sub-sites of the Lipid Library, the online nature of these contributions allows them to be conveniently updated to reflect advances in the field.
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Randall J. Weselake is the Associate Editor for these web pages Department of Agricultural, Food & Nutritional Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada T6G 2P5 |
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Updated: August 13th, 2010 |
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© AOCS | |