Methods of producing lipids

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10925293-B2
Application number	US-201514834914-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 25, 2015
Priority date	Jun 28, 2010
Publication date	Feb 23, 2021
Grant date	Feb 23, 2021

Abstract

The present invention relates to methods of producing lipids. In particular, the present invention relates to methods of increasing the level of one or more non-polar lipids and/or the total non-polar lipid content in a transgenic organism or part thereof. In one particular embodiment, the present invention relates to the use of an acyltransferase, for example, a monoacylglycerol acyltransferase (MGAT) to increase the level of one or more non-polar lipids and/or the total non-polar lipid content in plants, plant seed and/or leaves, algae and fungi.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A plant comprising
i) a first exogenous polynucleotide which encodes a monoacylglycerol acyltransferase (MGAT) and which is expressed in a vegetative part of the plant or, if the plant is a unicellular plant, in the unicellular plant,
ii) a second exogenous polynucleotide which encodes a diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT), a glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase (GPAT), or both, and which is expressed in a vegetative part of the plant or, if the plant is a unicellular plant, in the unicellular plant, and
iii) a level of triacylglycerol (TAG) in the vegetative part of the plant or in the unicellular plant that is greater on a relative basis when compared to such a vegetative part of a plant or unicellular plant, respectively, lacking the first exogenous polynucleotide and comprising the second exogenous polynucleotide.

2. The plant of claim 1 , wherein the level of TAG in the vegetative part of the plant or in the unicellular plant is at least 10% greater on a relative basis when compared to the vegetative part of the plant or unicellular plant lacking the first exogenous polynucleotide and comprising the second exogenous polynucleotide.

3. A plant comprising:
i) a first exogenous polynucleotide which encodes a monoacylglycerol acyltransferase (MGAT) and which is expressed in a vegetative part of the plant or, if the plant is a unicellular plant, in the unicellular plant,
ii) a second exogenous polynucleotide which encodes a diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT), a glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase (GPAT), or both, and which is expressed in a vegetative part of the plant or, if the plant is a unicellular plant, in the unicellular plant, and
iii) a level of triacylglycerol (TAG) in the vegetative part of the plant or in the unicellular plant that is at least 30% greater on a relative basis when compared to such a vegetative part of the plant or unicellular plant, respectively, lacking the first exogenous polynucleotide and comprising the second exogenous polynucleotide.

4. A plant comprising
i) a first exogenous polynucleotide which encodes a monoacylglycerol acyltransferase (MGAT) and which is expressed in a vegetative part of the plant or, if the plant is a unicellular plant, in the unicellular plant,
ii) a second exogenous polynucleotide which encodes a diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT), a glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase (GPAT), or both, and which is expressed in a vegetative part of the plant or, if the plant is a unicellular plant, in the unicellular plant, and
iii) a level of triacylglycerol (TAG) in the vegetative part of the plant or in the unicellular plant that is at least 90% greater on a relative basis when compared to such a vegetative part of the plant or unicellular plant, respectively, lacking the first exogenous polynucleotide and comprising the second exogenous polynucleotide.

5. The plant of claim 1 , wherein the plant is selected from the group consisting of Brassica sp., Gossypium hirsutum, Linum usitatissimum, Helianthus sp., Carthamus tinctorius, Glycine max, Zea mays, Arabidopsis thaliana, Sorghum bicolor, Sorghum vulgare, Avena sativa, Trifolium sp., Camelina sativa, Miscanthus x giganteus and Miscanthus sinensis.

6. The plant of claim 1 , wherein the plant is an aquatic plant.

7. The plant of claim 1 , wherein the plant is a unicellular plant.

8. The plant of claim 1 , wherein the TAG in the vegetative part of the plant or unicellular plant comprises a fatty acid content which is least 60% (mol %) oleic acid.

9. The plant of claim 1 , wherein the TAG in the vegetative part of the plant or unicellular plant comprises a fatty acid content having an increased level of polyunsaturated fatty acids when compared to TAG in the vegetative part of the plant or unicellular plant lacking the first exogenous polynucleotide and comprising the second exogenous polynucleotide.

10. The plant of claim 9 , wherein the polyunsaturated fatty acid is eicosadienoic acid (EDA), arachidonic acid (ARA), alpha linolenic acid (ALA), stearidonic acid (SDA), eicosatrienoic acid (ETE), eicosatetraenoic acid (ETA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosapentaenoic acid (DPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), or a combination of two of more thereof.

11. The plant of claim 1 , wherein the second exogenous polynucleotide encodes a DGAT, and the DGAT is a DGAT2.

12. The plant of claim 1 , wherein the second exogenous polynucleotide encodes a GPAT, and the GPAT has phosphatase activity to produce monoacylglycerol (MAG).

13. The plant of claim 1 , wherein the exogenous polynucleotides are stably integrated in the genome of the plant.

14. The plant of claim 4 , wherein the exogenous polynucleotides are stably integrated in the genome of the plant.

15. A seed of the plant of claim 13 , wherein the seed comprises the first and second exogenous polynucleotides.

16. A seed of the plant of claim 14 , wherein the seed comprises the first and second exogenous polynucleotides.

Assignees

• Commw Scient Ind Res Org

Inventors

• Petrie James Robertson
• Vanhercke Thomas
• Shrestha Pushkar
• Liu Qing
• Singh Surinder Pal

Classifications

• C10L1/026 Primary

  for compression ignition · CPC title

• A23D9/00 Primary

  Other edible oils or fats, e.g. shortenings or cooking oils (preservation of other edible oils A23B20/30) · CPC title

• Y02E50/10

  Biofuels, e.g. bio-diesel · CPC title

• C12Y203/0102

  Diacylglycerol O-acyltransferase (2.3.1.20) · CPC title

• C12Y204/01143

  Alpha-1,6-mannosyl-glycoprotein 2-beta-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase (2.4.1.143) · CPC title