Production of Oil in Plant Vegetative Tissues

Abstract

Synthetic biology is an emerging area of science focused on the development of well‐defined molecular components that can be assembled and utilized for rational engineering design. In many cases, the process is geared towards production of high‐value compounds, and in biofuels research, a major goal is to maximize the amount of oil that can be recovered from plants. While seeds are the traditional source of plant oil, we and others are considering the engineering of oil in plant vegetative tissues. The rationale is that the biomass of plants is dominated by leaves and stems, and as such, production of even modest amounts of oil in these tissues may significantly increase the amount of oil recovered from plants. In this seminar I will describe a variety of approaches that we are using to increase the steady‐state amount of oil in plant leaves, including enhancement of the mechanisms for oil synthesis and disruption of processes for oil breakdown. Furthermore, we have recently identified proteins involved in lipid droplet biogenesis and compartmentation, which provide additional tools for modulating the packaging and storage of lipids in plant cells. Collectively, these studies define a growing set of molecular components that can be used for lipid modification. The results of these studies are informing not only the engineering of oil content in plant leaves, but also providing new insights to oil production in plant seeds. Implications for both food and fuel will be discussed.