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JXB Advance Access published online on August 13, 2008
Journal of Experimental Botany, doi:10.1093/jxb/ern206
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© 2008 The Author(s).
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/uk/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. This paper is available online free of all access charges (see http://jxb.oxfordjournals.org/open_access.html for further details)

RESEARCH PAPER

Metabolic control analysis is helpful for informed genetic manipulation of oilseed rape (Brassica napus) to increase seed oil content

Randall J. Weselake1, Saleh Shah2, Mingguo Tang3, Patti A. Quant4, Crystal L. Snyder1, Tara L. Furukawa-Stoffer1, Weiming Zhu2, David C. Taylor5, Jitao Zou5, Arvind Kumar5, Linda Hall1, Andre Laroche6, Gerhard Rakow7, Phillip Raney7, Maurice M. Moloney8 and John L. Harwood3,*

1Department of Agricultural, Food & Nutritional Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada T6G 2P5
2Plant Biotechnology Unit, Alberta Research Council, Vegreville, AB, Canada T9C 1T4
3School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3AX, UK
4Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK
5Plant Biotechnology Institute, National Research Council, Saskatoon, SK, Canada S7N 0W9
6Agriculture and Agri-food Canada, Lethbridge, AB, Canada T1J 4B1
7Agriculture and Agri-food Canada, Saskatoon, SK, Canada S7N 0X2
8University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada T2N 1N4

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: harwood{at}cardiff.ac.uk

Top–down control analysis (TDCA) is a useful tool for quantifying constraints on metabolic pathways that might be overcome by biotechnological approaches. Previous studies on lipid accumulation in oilseed rape have suggested that diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT), which catalyses the final step in seed oil biosynthesis, might be an effective target for enhancing seed oil content. Here, increased seed oil content, increased DGAT activity, and reduced substrate:product ratio are demonstrated, as well as reduced flux control by complex lipid assembly, as determined by TDCA in Brassica napus (canola) lines which overexpress the gene encoding type-1 DGAT. Lines overexpressing DGAT1 also exhibited considerably enhanced seed oil content under drought conditions. These results support the use of TDCA in guiding the rational selection of molecular targets for oilseed modification. The most effective lines had a seed oil increase of 14%. Moreover, overexpression of DGAT1 under drought conditions reduced this environmental penalty on seed oil content.

Key words: Brassica napus, control analysis, diacylglycerol acyltransferase, oil content, oilseed modification

Received 24 April 2008; Revised 14 July 2008 Accepted 15 July 2008


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