Background

The key function of Cytosolic lipid droplets (LDs) found in a wide range of unicellular and multicellular organisms is the storage of energy-rich neutral lipids, such as triacylglycerols. This phenomenon of accumulating and storing lipids in LDs is found in almost all vegetative tissues. The identification of LD-associated proteins (LDAPs) in Arabidopsis allows it to be used as bait proteins in yeast two-hybrid screens against an Arabidopsis cDNA ‘prey’ library. It was demonstrated that LDAP3 interactor, termed Arabidopsis mycobacterial-like protein (AMLP) is expressed in a variety of tissues and exhibits high specificity in leaf cells and plays a key role in regulating LD size in plant cells ().

Technology Overview

Genetic mutation is employed in cells of target plant having At5g16550 gene which has mycobacterial-like protein (AMLP). Arabidopsis MMPL protein is an integral membrane protein of unknown function that was identified as an interacting protein with the lipid droplet associated protein (LDAP) isoform 3, and it localizes to lipid droplets of plant cells.

MMPL is expressed in a variety of Arabidopsis tissues/organs and developmental stages suggesting that the protein is a constitutive component of the LD proteome throughout the plant lifecycle. They also serve as cell membrane proteins involved in transport of various lipids across the cell membrane to the cell wall as revealed by an extensive hydrophobic region corresponding to the protein’s MMPL domain. The identification of 2 mutants with reduced or no expression revealed fewer but substantially larger lipid droplets in plant leaves, suggesting that MMPL protein may function to regulate LD size in plants.

Stage of Development

Reduced to practice and Available for Licensing

Benefits

Diverse Applications
Large Lipid Droplets

Applications

The oil content can be increased in tissues of oil crops, like canola, Camelina, soybean, sunflower, safflower, cotton, palm, coconut, peanut, etc. by engineering the loss of MMPL function. Thus, commercially this technology has the potential to impact the economics of oil seed production.

Methods for Increasing Oil Content in Plant Tissues By Suppressing Hydrophobic Lipid Droplet Protein

Patents

IP Status

Seeking