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Increased fatty acid production in potato by engineering of acetyl-CoA carboxylase

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Abstract

In contrast to oil seeds, potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is characterized by a high amount of starch stored in the tubers. To assess the capacity for oil synthesis in potato tubers, the changes in lipid content and flux into lipid synthesis were explored in transgenic potatoes altered in carbohydrate or lipid metabolism. A strong decrease in the amount of starch observed in antisense lines for ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase or plastidic phosphoglucomutase had no effect on storage-lipid content. Similarly, potato lines over-expressing the Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. plastidic ATP/ADP transporter that contained an increased amount of starch were not altered in oil content, indicating that the plastidic ATP level is not limiting fatty acid synthesis in potato tubers. However, over-expression of the acetyl-CoA carboxylase from Arabidopsis in the amyloplasts of potato tubers led to an increase in fatty acid synthesis and a more than 5-fold increase in the amount of triacylglycerol. Taken together, these data demonstrate that potato tubers have the capacity for storage-lipid synthesis and that malonyl-CoA, the substrate for elongation during fatty acid synthesis, represents one of the limiting factors for oil accumulation.

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Abbreviations

AATP :

Plastidic ADP/ATP transporter

ACCase :

Acetyl-CoA:carboxylase

DGAT :

Acyl-CoA:diacylglycerol acyltransferase

FW :

Fresh weight

TLC :

Thin-layer chromatography

WT:

Wild type

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Acknowledgements

We thank E. Tauberger, B. Müller-Röber and A. Fernie (Max-Planck-Institute of Molecular Plant Physiologoy, Golm, Germany) for the transgenic potato lines altered in starch metabolism and Linda Savage (Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, USA) for performing Western blots of ACCase-overexpressing plants. This work was supported in part by a grant from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Grant Do 520/3-1; Bonn, Germany).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Lothar Willmitzer, Max-Planck-Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Am Mühlenberg 1, 14476, Golm, Germany

    Dörte Klaus & Peter Dörmann

  2. Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA

    John B. Ohlrogge

  3. Pflanzenphysiologie, University of Kaiserslautern, Erwin-Schrödinger-Straße, 67653, Kaiserslautern, Germany

    H. Ekkehard Neuhaus

Authors
  1. Dörte Klaus
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  2. John B. Ohlrogge
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  3. H. Ekkehard Neuhaus
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  4. Peter Dörmann
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Peter Dörmann.

Additional information

Source for transgenic plant material. Upon request, transgenic potato lines altered in ACCase activity can be obtained from Peter Dörmann. For potato lines with alterations in AATP transporter activity, please refer to H. Ekkehard Neuhaus. Transgenic AGP and PGM lines are available from A. Fernie (Max-Planck-Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Golm, Germany).

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Klaus, D., Ohlrogge, J.B., Neuhaus, H.E. et al. Increased fatty acid production in potato by engineering of acetyl-CoA carboxylase. Planta 219, 389–396 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-004-1236-3

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