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.
- Plant fatty acid synthesis (John L. Harwood)
- Production of unusual fatty acids in plants (David Hildebrand)
- Arabidopsis acyl-Coenzyme A binding proteins (Mee-Len Chye)
- Plant triacylglycerol synthesis (David C. Taylor, Jitao Zou & Randall J. Weselake)
- Triacylglycerol biosynthesis in eukaryotic microalgae (Yonghua Li-Beisson)
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- February 9th, 2012 - Subcellular oil droplets and oleosins in plants (Anthony H.C. Huang)
- Triacylglycerol mobilisation in plants (Peter J. Eastmond)
- Biosynthesis of plant lipid polyesters (Isabel Molina)
- Rubber biosynthesis (Katrina Cornish and Joshua J. Blakeslee)
- Carotenoid biosynthesis and regulation in plants (Abdelali Hannoufa & Zakir Hossain)
- The oxylipin biosynthetic pathways in plants (Florian Brodhun & Ivo Feussner)
- Phosphoinositide signaling in plants (Ingo Heilmann)
- Plant lipidomics (Ruth Welti)
- 50 years of galactolipid research: the beginnings (Peter Dörmann and Ernst Heinz)
The following topics are in preparation and are expected from November onwards-
Plant
sphingolipids (Edgar B. Cahoon)- Plant fatty acid elongases (Joerg Bauer)
- Metabolic engineering of plants to produce very-long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (Johnathan Napier)
- Plant acyl-CoA synthetases (Jay Shockey)
- Production of hydroxy oils in plants (Mark Smith and Thomas McKeon)
- Role of transcription factors in storage lipid accumulation in plants (Pierre Fobert)
- Plant wax biosynthesis (Owen Rowland and Ljerka Kunst)
- Ecophysiology of plant surface lipids (Reinhard Jetter)
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.
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: February 9th, 2012 | Credits/disclaimer |  |
© AOCS |