Abstract
There is considerable interest in the de novo production of omega-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids such as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), not least of all given the importance of these fatty acids in both aquaculture and human nutrition. Previously we have demonstrated the feasibility of using metabolic engineering in transgenic plants (Camelina sativa) to modify the seed oil composition to now include EPA and/or DHA. In this study, we further tailored the seed oil profile to reduce the omega-6 content, and evaluated the performance of such GM plants under field conditions (i.e. environmental releases), in terms of agronomic performance and also the lipidomic profile of seed oil. We used MALDI- mass spectrometry imaging to identify discrete tissue-types in the seed in which these non-native fatty acids preferentially accumulated. Collectively, these data provide new insights into the complexity of plant lipid metabolism and the challenges associated with predictive manipulation of these pathways. However, this study identified the likely dispensable nature of a Δ12-desturase activity in our omega-3 metabolic engineering rationales for Camelina.
Highlights
There is considerable interest in the production of novel sources of omega-3 (ω3) long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs), which are known to have a proven role in human health[1]
Closer examination of the seed fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) from GH-grown T4 plants revealed that oleic acid (OA) levels were restored to levels similar to that observed in WT seed, whereas the levels of linoleic acid (LA) were reduced by approximately a third
The capacity to direct the synthesis of non-native fatty acids such as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexanoic acid (DHA) in transgenic Camelina represents a significant achievement for plant biotechnology, not least of all given the importance these omega-3 fatty acids play in both aquatic and terrestrial food chains, including human nutrition[1,2,3]
Summary
There is considerable interest in the production of novel sources of omega-3 (ω3) long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs), which are known to have a proven role in human health ( in reducing our risk of cardiovascular disease and related metabolic pathologies)[1]. The global aquaculture industry has continued to expand[4], driven in turn by the growing human population These factors challenge the assumption that farmed fish species such as salmon contain significant levels of the health beneficial omega-3 LC-PUFAs such as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA; 20:5Δ 5,8,11,14,17) and docosahexanoic acid (DHA; 22:6Δ 4,7,10,13,16,19), and there is emerging evidence that farmed fish contain significantly less of these fatty acids compared with ten years ago[5, 6]. Since the major application for any novel plant-derived sources of omega-3 LC-PUFAs is as a direct replacement for fish oil in aquafeed diets, it is important to reduce the level of omega-6 (n-6) fatty acids as much as is possible, since these are only present in low levels in marine organisms[20,21,22]. This new line formed the experimental basis for querying all of the above, with a focus on how growth in the “real world” might impact on seed oil composition
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