Abstract

Heterologous Synthesis of Omega-3 Long Chain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids in Transgenic Plants via Iterative Metabolic Engineering: A Terrestrial Source of Fish Oils

Johnathan Napier, Principal Investigator, Rothamsted Research

We have been evaluating the possibility of producing omega-3 LC-PUFAs in different transgenic hosts, to provide a sustainable source of these important nutrients.   Attempts to metabolically engineer plants with the primary algal biosynthetic pathway for LC-PUFAs has been carried out in both model plants and crop species, allowing insights into factors constraining the accumulation of these fatty acids in non-native hosts. The use of lipidomics has allowed us to identify further metabolic bottlenecks in the transgenic  pathway, ultimately leading to the breakthrough production of a transgenic oilseed crop which contains up to 30% omega-3 LC-PUFAs in its seed oil. As a next step, we will evaluate the performance of this novel GM trait via field trials to be carried out at Rothamsted over the next four years. This omega-3 trait represents probably the most complex plant metabolic engineering to undergo field-trialing to date, and as such, has implications for applied synthetic biology in agriculture.