Agricultural yields and biofuels production likely to be boosted by the discovery of plant proteins

摘要

Researchers from Iowa State University and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have uncovered the function of three plant proteins, a discovery that could help plant scientists boost seed oil production in crops, and drive the production of food, biorenewable chemicals and biofuels. The analysis of gene activity (by the Iowa group) and determination of protein structures (by the Salk group) independently identified in the model plant thale cress (flrabidopsis thaliana) three related proteins that appear to be involved in fatty-acid metabolism (Figure 1). The Iowa and Salk researchers then joined forces to test this hypothesis, demonstrating a role of these proteins in regulating the amounts and types of fatty acids accumulated in plants. The researchers also showed that the action of the proteins is very sensitive to temperature and that this feature may play an important role in how plants mitigate temperature stress using fatty acids.