Multicellular living organisms and unmodified parts thereof and – Method of introducing a polynucleotide molecule into or... – The polynucleotide alters fat – fatty oil – ester-type wax – or...
Patent
1997-11-28
2000-04-18
McElwain, Elizabeth F.
Multicellular living organisms and unmodified parts thereof and
Method of introducing a polynucleotide molecule into or...
The polynucleotide alters fat, fatty oil, ester-type wax, or...
800298, 800306, 800312, 800314, 800317, 8003201, 800322, 4352523, 4353201, 435468, A01H 500, C12N 1582
Patent
active
060517557
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to the modification of plant lipids and seed oils by genetic engineering techniques. More particularly, the invention relates to a method of genetically modifying oilseed plants to produce oilseeds or whole plants of enhanced commercial value. The invention also relates to the modified plants and seeds, and to genetic materials and vectors used for the production of such plants, and for further modifications of plants.
BACKGROUND ART
There is considerable interest nowadays in modifying the seed oil fatty acid composition and content of oilseeds by molecular genetic means to provide a dependable source of Super High Erucic Acid Rapeseed (SHEAR) oil for use as an industrial feedstock. A similar interest exists for producing other strategic non-edible oils (e.g. seed oils high in hydroxy-, epoxy-, short and medium chain fatty acids, etc.) in traditional oilseed crops (e.g. rapeseed, flax, sunflower, soybean).
For edible oils, there is considerable interest in changing the fatty acid composition (e.g. higher oleic/lower polyunsaturates, lower saturates, higher saturates) as well as increasing the oil content in oilseed crops such as Canola and edible oil flax (Linola), soybean and sunflower.
Currently, there are no documented demonstrations of increases in oil content (yield) by transgenic means, although yield increases by traditional breeding and selection continue to bring about incremental improvements.
In contrast, increases in the proportions of some strategic fatty acids have been achieved by the introduction of various plant fatty acid biosynthesis and acyltransferase genes in oilseeds. Some examples of such processes are the following: Bay, in Brassicaceae to increase the lauric acid (12:0) content (Calgene; Voelker et al., 1992; 1996--see References 35 and 36 in the accompanying "References Pertinent to the Present Invention"). Brassica napus (Canola) cultivars to increase the level of erucic acid; the effect following expression in high erucic acid cultivars was negligible (Calgene; Lassner et al., 1996--see Reference 20). desaturase in Brassicaceae to increase the stearic acid content (Calgene; Knutzon et al., 1992--see Reference 16). a sense construct encoding plant microsomal FAD2 (.DELTA.12) desaturase (duPont/InterMountain Canola; Hitz et al., 1995--see Reference 12). triacylglycerols (TAGs) in rapeseed by expression of coconut or meadowfoam lyso-phosphatidic acid acyltransferases (LPATs; E.C. 2.3.1.51), respectively (Calgene; Knutzon et al., 1995 a & b;--see References 17 and 18; Lassner et al., 1995--see Reference 21).
Although the use of plant transgenes resulted in altered proportions of sn-2 lauric and erucic acids, in laurate canola and high erucic acid rapeseed, respectively, the overall proportions of lauric and erucic acids in the seed oil were not increased, and there was no evidence of increased total fatty acid content, or increased oil yield in these transgenics.
There is accordingly a need for new ways of increasing oil yield and improving oil composition in oilseed plants by employing genetic engineering techniques.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to genetically modify oilseed plants to improve the commercial value of such plants, the seeds of such plants, and the oils produced from such plants.
Another object of the invention is to provide a method of modifying the yield and composition of oils derived from oilseed plants.
The present invention is based on the discovery that sn-2 acylglyceride fatty acyltransferase genes (SLC1-1 and its allele, SLC1) from yeast (Saccharomyces cereviseae), can be used to change the oil content and oil composition of plant seed and leaf lipids.
Thus, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a transgenic oilseed plant having a genome incorporating an expressible yeast SLC1-1 or SLC1 gene.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a seed of a transgenic oilseed plant having a genome incorporating an expressible yeast SLC1-1 or
Katavic Vesna
Keller Wilfred A.
MacKenzie Samuel L.
Taylor David C.
Zou Jitao
Anderson J. Wayne
McElwain Elizabeth F.
National Research Council of Canada
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