Acyl-coa-dependent diacylglycerol acyltransferas 1 (dgat1) gene from tropaeolum majus, protein encoded thereby and uses thereof
AssigneeNational Research Council of Canada
InventorsDavid C. Taylor, Jingyu Xu, Elzbieta Mietkiewska, Tammy Francis
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT1) gene from Tropaeolum majus encodes a DGAT1 polypeptide that regulates the production of triacylglycerols from diacylglycerols. Transformation of cells with the Tropaeolum majus DGAT1 (TmDGAT1) gene, or variants thereof, leads to changes in DGAT1 activity and alterations in oil and/or fatty acid content and/or seed weight. In particular, oil content, seed weight, erucic acid and/or trierucin content may be increased.
Claims16
A method of increasing oil content or weight of a seed of an oilseed plant, the method comprising expressing or over-expressing a nucleic acid molecule having the nucleotide sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO:
- 2 in the seed, the nucleic acid molecule encoding a protein having diacylglycerol acyltransferase activity, to thereby increase net overall oil content by 10-28% or the seed weight by 20-30% in comparison to seeds that have not been transformed with the nucleic acid molecule.
An isolated or purified polypeptide comprising the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO:
- 4, SEQ ID NO:
- 5, SEQ ID NO:
- 6, SEQ ID NO:
- 7, SEQ ID NO:
- 8 or SEQ ID NO:
- 9.
A method of increasing diacylglycerol acyltransferase activity in a cell comprising expressing or over-expressing a polypeptide comprising the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO:
- 6 in the cell.
A method of decreasing diacylglycerol acyltransferase activity in a cell comprising expressing a polypeptide comprising the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO:
- 4, SEQ ID NO:
- 5, SEQ ID NO:
- 7, SEQ ID NO:
- 8 or SEQ ID NO:
- 9 in the cell.
A method of converting a diacylglycerol to a triacylglycerol comprising:
- contacting a diacylglycerol with an acyl donor in the presence of a diacylglycerol acyltransferase having an amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO:
- 6.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.