Science · 1992 · 428 citations · 17 references
Life SciencesPlant BiologyPlant SciencesPlant BiochemistryPlant BiotechnologyTransgenic CropsFatty Acid BiosynthesisFatty Acid MetabolismFatty Acid SynthesisLipid BiosynthesisLipid MetabolismPlant EnzymesFatty Acid Biosynthetic EnzymesFatty Acyl-coa ThioestersMedium-chain Fatty Acid SynthesisMolecular Characterization Of Transgenic PlantsPlant Fatty Acid BiosynthesisPlastidial Fatty Acid SynthesisThioesterase ActivityTransgenic Plants
Medium-chain fatty acids (FAs), found in storage lipids of certain plants, are an important renewable resource. Seeds of undomesticated California bay accumulate laurate (12:0), and a 12:0-acyl-carrier protein thioesterase (BTE) has been purified from this tissue. Sequencing of BTE enabled the cloning of a complementary DNA coding for a plastid-targeted preprotein. Expression of the complementary DNA in the seeds of Arabidopsis thaliana resulted in BTE activity, and medium chains accumulated at the expense of long-chain (greater than or equal to 16) FAs. Laurate became the most abundant FA species and was deposited in the storage triacylglycerols. These results demonstrate a mechanism for medium-chain FA synthesis in plants.
17
Dirk Valvekens, Marc Van Montagu, Mieke Van Lijsebettens · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 1988 · 1.3K citations · Full text
Selection of AUG initiation codons differs in plants and animals.
H Lütcke, Kuan‐Chih Chow, F.S. Mickel et al. · The EMBO Journal · 1987 · 1K citations · Full text