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Li X, Yell V, Li X. Two Arabidopsis promoters drive seed-coat specific gene expression in pennycress and camelina. PLANT METHODS 2023; 19:140. [PMID: 38053155 DOI: 10.1186/s13007-023-01114-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2023] [Accepted: 11/20/2023] [Indexed: 12/07/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Pennycress and camelina are two important novel biofuel oilseed crop species. Their seeds contain high content of oil that can be easily converted into biodiesel or jet fuel, while the left-over materials are usually made into press cake meals for feeding livestock. Therefore, the ability to manipulate the seed coat encapsulating the oil- and protein-rich embryos is critical for improving seed oil production and press cake quality. RESULTS Here, we tested the promoter activity of two Arabidopsis seed coat genes, AtTT10 and AtDP1, in pennycress and camelina by using eGFP and GUS reporters. Overall, both promoters show high levels of activities in the seed coat in these two biofuel crops, with very low or no expression in other tissues. Importantly, AtTT10 promoter activity in camelina shows differences from that in Arabidopsis, which highlights that the behavior of an exogenous promoter in closely related species cannot be assumed the same and still requires experimental determination. CONCLUSION Our work demonstrates that AtTT10 and AtDP1 promoters are suitable for driving gene expression in the outer integument of the seed coat in pennycress and camelina.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xin Li
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA
- Plants for Human Health Institute, North Carolina State University, Kannapolis, NC, 28081, USA
| | - Victoria Yell
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA
- Plants for Human Health Institute, North Carolina State University, Kannapolis, NC, 28081, USA
| | - Xu Li
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA.
- Plants for Human Health Institute, North Carolina State University, Kannapolis, NC, 28081, USA.
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Arias CL, García Navarrete LT, Mukundi E, Swanson T, Yang F, Hernandez J, Grotewold E, Alonso AP. Metabolic and transcriptomic study of pennycress natural variation identifies targets for oil improvement. PLANT BIOTECHNOLOGY JOURNAL 2023; 21:1887-1903. [PMID: 37335591 PMCID: PMC10440992 DOI: 10.1111/pbi.14101] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2023] [Revised: 05/31/2023] [Accepted: 06/05/2023] [Indexed: 06/21/2023]
Abstract
Pennycress (Thlaspi arvense L.), a member of the Brassicaceae family, produces seed oil high in erucic acid, suitable for biodiesel and aviation fuel. Although pennycress, a winter annual, could be grown as a dedicated bioenergy crop, an increase in its seed oil content is required to improve its economic competitiveness. The success of crop improvement relies upon finding the right combination of biomarkers and targets, and the best genetic engineering and/or breeding strategies. In this work, we combined biomass composition with metabolomic and transcriptomic studies of developing embryos from 22 pennycress natural variants to identify targets for oil improvement. The selected accession collection presented diverse levels of fatty acids at maturity ranging from 29% to 41%. Pearson correlation analyses, weighted gene co-expression network analysis and biomarker identifications were used as complementary approaches to detect associations between metabolite level or gene expression and oil content at maturity. The results indicated that improving seed oil content can lead to a concomitant increase in the proportion of erucic acid without affecting the weight of embryos. Processes, such as carbon partitioning towards the chloroplast, lipid metabolism, photosynthesis, and a tight control of nitrogen availability, were found to be key for oil improvement in pennycress. Besides identifying specific targets, our results also provide guidance regarding the best timing for their modification, early or middle maturation. Thus, this work lays out promising strategies, specific for pennycress, to accelerate the successful development of lines with increased seed oil content for biofuel applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cintia Lucía Arias
- Department of Biological Sciences & BioDiscovery InstituteUniversity of North TexasDentonTexasUSA
| | | | - Eric Mukundi
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular BiologyMichigan State UniversityEast LansingMichiganUSA
| | - Tyler Swanson
- Department of Biological Sciences & BioDiscovery InstituteUniversity of North TexasDentonTexasUSA
| | - Fan Yang
- Center for Applied Plant SciencesThe Ohio State UniversityColumbusOhioUSA
| | - Jonathan Hernandez
- Department of Biological Sciences & BioDiscovery InstituteUniversity of North TexasDentonTexasUSA
| | - Erich Grotewold
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular BiologyMichigan State UniversityEast LansingMichiganUSA
| | - Ana Paula Alonso
- Department of Biological Sciences & BioDiscovery InstituteUniversity of North TexasDentonTexasUSA
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Romsdahl TB, Cocuron JC, Pearson MJ, Alonso AP, Chapman KD. A lipidomics platform to analyze the fatty acid compositions of non-polar and polar lipid molecular species from plant tissues: Examples from developing seeds and seedlings of pennycress ( Thlaspi arvense). FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2022; 13:1038161. [PMID: 36438089 PMCID: PMC9682148 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2022.1038161] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2022] [Accepted: 10/19/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
The lipidome comprises the total content of molecular species of each lipid class, and is measured using the analytical techniques of lipidomics. Many liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) methods have previously been described to characterize the lipidome. However, many lipidomic approaches may not fully uncover the subtleties of lipid molecular species, such as the full fatty acid (FA) composition of certain lipid classes. Here, we describe a stepwise targeted lipidomics approach to characterize the polar and non-polar lipid classes using complementary LC-MS methods. Our "polar" method measures 260 molecular species across 12 polar lipid classes, and is performed using hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC) on a NH2 column to separate lipid classes by their headgroup. Our "non-polar" method measures 254 molecular species across three non-polar lipid classes, separating molecular species on their FA characteristics by reverse phase (RP) chromatography on a C30 column. Five different extraction methods were compared, with an MTBE-based extraction chosen for the final lipidomics workflow. A state-of-the-art strategy to determine and relatively quantify the FA composition of triacylglycerols is also described. This lipidomics workflow was applied to developing, mature, and germinated pennycress seeds/seedlings and found unexpected changes among several lipid molecular species. During development, diacylglycerols predominantly contained long chain length FAs, which contrasted with the very long chain FAs of triacylglycerols in mature seeds. Potential metabolic explanations are discussed. The lack of very long chain fatty acids in diacylglycerols of germinating seeds may indicate very long chain FAs, such as erucic acid, are preferentially channeled into beta-oxidation for energy production.
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Affiliation(s)
- Trevor B. Romsdahl
- Mass Spectrometry Facility, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, United States
- Department of Biological Sciences & BioDiscovery Institute, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, United States
| | | | | | - Ana Paula Alonso
- Department of Biological Sciences & BioDiscovery Institute, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, United States
- BioAnalytical Facility, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, United States
| | - Kent D. Chapman
- Department of Biological Sciences & BioDiscovery Institute, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, United States
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Buck SP, Pegg RB, Tyl C. Oxidative Stability of Oil Obtained From a Low‐erucic Acid Pennycress (
Thlaspi arvense
L.) Mutant with Potential for Food Use. EUR J LIPID SCI TECH 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/ejlt.202200053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Sabrina P. Buck
- Department of Food Science and Technology, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences The University of Georgia Athens GA USA
| | - Ronald B. Pegg
- Department of Food Science and Technology, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences The University of Georgia Athens GA USA
| | - Catrin Tyl
- Faculty of Chemistry, Biotechnology and Food Science Norwegian University of Life Science 1432 Ås Norway
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Jarvis BA, Romsdahl TB, McGinn MG, Nazarenus TJ, Cahoon EB, Chapman KD, Sedbrook JC. CRISPR/Cas9-Induced fad2 and rod1 Mutations Stacked With fae1 Confer High Oleic Acid Seed Oil in Pennycress ( Thlaspi arvense L.). FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2021; 12:652319. [PMID: 33968108 PMCID: PMC8100250 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2021.652319] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2021] [Accepted: 03/23/2021] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
Pennycress (Thlaspi arvense L.) is being domesticated as an oilseed cash cover crop to be grown in the off-season throughout temperate regions of the world. With its diploid genome and ease of directed mutagenesis using molecular approaches, pennycress seed oil composition can be rapidly tailored for a plethora of food, feed, oleochemical and fuel uses. Here, we utilized Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR)/Cas9 technology to produce knockout mutations in the FATTY ACID DESATURASE2 (FAD2) and REDUCED OLEATE DESATURATION1 (ROD1) genes to increase oleic acid content. High oleic acid (18:1) oil is valued for its oxidative stability that is superior to the polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) linoleic (18:2) and linolenic (18:3), and better cold flow properties than the very long chain fatty acid (VLCFA) erucic (22:1). When combined with a FATTY ACID ELONGATION1 (fae1) knockout mutation, fad2 fae1 and rod1 fae1 double mutants produced ∼90% and ∼60% oleic acid in seed oil, respectively, with PUFAs in fad2 fae1 as well as fad2 single mutants reduced to less than 5%. MALDI-MS spatial imaging analyses of phosphatidylcholine (PC) and triacylglycerol (TAG) molecular species in wild-type pennycress embryo sections from mature seeds revealed that erucic acid is highly enriched in cotyledons which serve as storage organs, suggestive of a role in providing energy for the germinating seedling. In contrast, PUFA-containing TAGs are enriched in the embryonic axis, which may be utilized for cellular membrane expansion during seed germination and seedling emergence. Under standard growth chamber conditions, rod1 fae1 plants grew like wild type whereas fad2 single and fad2 fae1 double mutant plants exhibited delayed growth and overall reduced heights and seed yields, suggesting that reducing PUFAs below a threshold in pennycress had negative physiological effects. Taken together, our results suggest that combinatorial knockout of ROD1 and FAE1 may be a viable route to commercially increase oleic acid content in pennycress seed oil whereas mutations in FAD2 will likely require at least partial function to avoid fitness trade-offs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brice A. Jarvis
- School of Biological Sciences, Illinois State University, Normal, IL, United States
| | - Trevor B. Romsdahl
- BioDiscovery Institute and Department of Biological Sciences, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, United States
| | - Michaela G. McGinn
- School of Biological Sciences, Illinois State University, Normal, IL, United States
| | - Tara J. Nazarenus
- Department of Biochemistry and Center for Plant Science Innovation, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, United States
| | - Edgar B. Cahoon
- Department of Biochemistry and Center for Plant Science Innovation, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, United States
| | - Kent D. Chapman
- BioDiscovery Institute and Department of Biological Sciences, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, United States
| | - John C. Sedbrook
- School of Biological Sciences, Illinois State University, Normal, IL, United States
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