The 10th Asian Crop Science Association Conference

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Oral sessions

Crop Genetics and Physiology » O41: Genetic Improvement of Crop Yield

[O41] Genetic Improvement of Crop Yield

Thu. Sep 9, 2021 9:45 AM - 11:45 AM Room 4 (Oral) (Crop Genetics and Physiology)

Chair: Taichiro Ookawa (Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Japan )
Chair: Hiroshi Fukayama (Kobe University, Japan)
Chair: Masahiro Kishii (International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, Mexico)
Chair: Shunsuke Adachi (Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Japan )

11:10 AM - 11:25 AM

[O41-06] Highly Active Vernonia galamensis DGAT1 Can Effectively Increase Oil Levels in Yeast, Soybean and Arabidopsis

○Tomoko Hatanaka1, Yoshiki Tomita1, Choi-Wing Chau1, Honoka Ito2, Daisuke Sasayama1, Hiroshi Fukayama1, Tetsushi Azuma1, David F. Hildebrand3 (1.Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Kobe University, Japan, 2.Faculty of Agriculture, Kobe University, Japan, 3.Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Kentucky, United States)

The worldwide production of vegetable oil is increasing due to world population growth, economic development and demand for renewable resources. Triacylglycerols (TAGs) are the major component of plant storage lipids. Acyl-CoA:diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT) catalyzes the final step of Kennedy pathway and it is considered a rate-limiting enzyme responsible for the plant oil accumulation. We previously found DGAT activity of Vernonia (Vernonia galamensis) DGAT1 was distinctively higher than that of Arabidopsis DGAT1 and soybean DGAT1 in a yeast microsome assay. Soybean lines expressing Vernonia DGAT1 showed a 20% increase in oil content without reductions in seed protein content or yield per unit land area.
In this study, the DGAT1 cDNAs of Arabidopsis, Vernonia, soybean and castor bean DGAT1 were introduced into Arabidopsis thaliana under the control of a seed specific promoter. Oil content and fatty acid composition of T3 seeds from transgenic lines were analyzed. All Vernonia DGAT1 expressing lines showed a significantly higher oil content (average 49% relative increase compared to the wild type) followed by soybean DGAT1 (average 30% increase), castor DGAT1 (average 21% increase), and most Arabidopsis DGAT1 over-expressing lines did not show a significant increase. We also found several changes in fatty acid ratio between wild-type plants and transgenic lines. In Vernonia DGAT1 expressing soybean lines, the ratio of 18:1 increased. In soybean DGAT1 expressing Arabidopsis lines, the ratio of 18:3 increased and that of 18:1 decreased.