Genes encoding a novel type of lysophophatidylcholine acyltransferases and their use to increase triacylglycerol production and/or modify fatty acid composition

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9228175-B2
Application number	US-201313745257-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 18, 2013
Priority date	Dec 13, 2006
Publication date	Jan 5, 2016
Grant date	Jan 5, 2016

Abstract

Described nucleic acid molecules (and corresponding peptides) encode lyso-phosphatidylcholine (LPC) acyltransferases. Over-expression of the LPC acyltransferases in a cell may lead to enhanced production of PUFA, or other unusual fatty acids, and/or to increased oil content in the cell.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A nucleic acid molecule comprising a first polynucleotide operably linked to a second, heterologous polynucleotide, wherein the first polynucleotide encodes at least one peptide selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:46, SEQ ID NO:47, SEQ ID NO:48, SEQ ID NO:49, SEQ ID NO:81, SEQ ID NO:82, SEQ ID NO:83, and SEQ ID NO:84.

2. A method for increasing fatty acid production in a cell, the method comprising:
expressing in a cell a nucleic acid molecule encoding a lyso-phosphatidylcholine acyltransferase
comprising:
(i) the motifs of SEQ ID NO:46, SEQ ID NO:47, SEQ ID NO:48, and SEQ ID NO:49, or
(ii) the motifs of SEQ ID NO:81, SEQ ID NO:82, SEQ ID NO:83, and SEQ ID NO:84.

3. The method according to claim 2 , further comprising isolating fatty acids from the cell.

4. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the cell is a plant cell.

5. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the lyso-phosphatidylcholine acyltransferase comprises SEQ ID NO:46, SEQ ID NO:47, SEQ ID NO:48, and SEQ ID NO:49.

6. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the cell is a plant cell.

7. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the lyso-phosphatidylcholine acyltransferase comprises SEQ ID NO:81, SEQ ID NO:82, SEQ ID NO:83, and SEQ ID NO:84.

8. The method according to claim 7 , wherein the cell is a plant cell.

9. A method of altering oil content in a plant, the method comprising:
expressing a nucleic acid molecule in the plant to alter the oil content of the plant, wherein the nucleic acid molecule encodes a lyso-phosphatidylcholine acyltransferase comprising:
(i) the motifs of SEQ ID NO:46, SEQ ID NO:47, SEQ ID NO:48, and SEQ ID NO:49, or
(ii) the motifs of SEQ ID NO:81, SEQ ID NO:82, SEQ ID NO:83, and SEQ ID NO:84.

10. The method according to claim 9 , wherein the lyso-phosphatidylcholine acyltransferase comprises SEQ ID NO:46, SEQ ID NO:47, SEQ ID NO:48, and SEQ ID NO:49.

11. The method according to claim 9 , wherein the lyso-phosphatidylcholine acyltransferase comprises SEQ ID NO:81, SEQ ID NO:82, SEQ ID NO:83, and SEQ ID NO:84.

12. A process of obtaining seeds, the process comprising:
transforming a plant cell with a recombinant DNA construct comprising a polynucleotide encoding a lyso-phosphatidylcholine acyltransferase, and a promoter for driving the expression of the polynucleotide in the plant cell to form a transformed plant cell, regenerating the transformed plant cell into a transgenic plant, and selecting transgenic plants that have enhanced levels of fatty acids in the seeds compared wild-type strains of the same plant;
cultivating the transformed plant for one or more generations, to produce a genetically modified plant; and
harvesting seeds from the genetically-modified plant,
wherein the lyso-phosphatidylcholine acyltransferase comprises:
(i) the motifs of SEQ ID NO:46, SEQ ID NO:47, SEQ ID NO:48, and SEQ ID NO:49, or
(ii) the motifs of SEQ ID NO:81, SEQ ID NO:82, SEQ ID NO:83, and SEQ ID NO:84.

13. A seed produced by a genetically-modified plant comprising a nucleic acid molecule encoding a lyso-phosphatidylcholine acyltransferase comprising:
(i) the motifs of SEQ ID NO:46, SEQ ID NO:47, SEQ ID NO:48, and SEQ ID NO:49, or
(ii) the motifs of SEQ ID NO:81, SEQ ID NO:82, SEQ ID NO:83, and SEQ ID NO:84.

14. A process for obtaining oil comprising enhanced levels of fatty acids, the process comprising:
extracting oil from the seed of claim 13 .

Assignees

• Chen Qilin
• Zou Jitao
• Zheng Zhifu
• Xu Jingyu
• Nat Res Counsel Of Canada
• Dow Agrosciences Llc

Inventors

• Chen Qilin
• Zou Jitao
• Zheng Zhifu
• Xu Jingyu

Classifications

• C12Q1/48

  involving transferase · CPC title

• C12N9/1029 Primary

  transferring groups other than amino-acyl groups (2.3.1) · CPC title