Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Jul 1;44(7):163.
doi: 10.1007/s00299-025-03554-2.

Enhanced seed oil content by overexpressing LPAAT and WRI1 genes in tobacco plant

Mohamad Reza Shams  1   2 , Khadige Razvi  2 , Hassan Rahnama  3 , Sahar Dashchi  1 , Hossein Hadavand Mirzaii  1
Affiliations

Enhanced seed oil content by overexpressing LPAAT and WRI1 genes in tobacco plant

Mohamad Reza Shams et al. Plant Cell Rep. .

Abstract

WRI1 and LPAAT gene overexpression enhances oil content and seed weight in tobacco plants, indicating potential candidate genes for enhancing seed oil in transgenic oil seed crops. The boosting triacylglycerols (TAG) assembly reactions (pull), the increasing fatty acid (FA) production (push), and the combination of these strategies were used to enhance seed oil content in transgenic tobacco plants. Three lines containing WRINKLED1 (WRI) (A1, A2, A7), two lines containing Lysophosphatidic Acid Acyltransferase (LPAAT) (B2, B3), and two lines containing WRI + LPAAT (AB1, AB2) transgenes were grown in greenhouse conditions and their T3 generations were used for further analysis. Total seed oil content in transgenic plants significantly increased within the range of 23.92-41%, respectively, in B3 and A7 lines than the non-transgenic tobacco plants. In addition, significantly elevated soluble sugar contents within 103.33-136.05 mg/g DW and 88.85-114.3 mg/g DW were observed, respectively, in the leaves and seeds of transgenic lines compared to control plants. We suggested that the enhanced accumulations of total soluble sugar in the seeds and leaves contribute to reallocation of the photosynthetic precursors for enhanced oil synthesis in transgenic plants. Expression analysis of WRI1 and LPAAT genes in transgenic plants showed a weak positive correlation with oil content (r ≈ 0.42). Overexpression of WRI1 and LPAAT increased seed size and weight, potentially explaining oil accumulation due to increased seed weight. Finally, no synergistic effect was observed in the simultaneous expression of WRI1 and LPAAT genes, suggesting potential limitations in the availability of oil biosynthesis precursors and interactions with other genes. Meanwhile, these findings show that WRI1 and LPAAT are reliable targets for genetic transformation of oil seed crops for improvement their seed oil yield.

Keywords: LPAAT; WRI1; Genetic transformation; Oil content; Tobacco.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Conflict of interest: The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. An D, Suh MC (2015) Overexpression of Arabidopsis WRI1 enhanced seed mass and storage oil content in Camelina sativa. Plant Biotechnol Rep 9:137–148. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11816-015-0351-x - DOI
    1. Arias CL, Quach T, Huynh T, Nguyen H, Moretti A, Shi Y et al (2022) Expression of AtWRI1 and AtDGAT1 during soybean embryo development influences oil and carbohydrate metabolism. Plant Biotechnol J 20:1327–1345. https://doi.org/10.1111/pbi-13810 - DOI - PubMed - PMC
    1. Athenstaedt K (2021) Phosphatidic acid biosynthesis in the model organism yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae—a survey. Biochim Biophys Acta (BBA) Mol Cell Biol Lipids 1866:158907. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbalip-2021-158907 - DOI
    1. Baud S, Lepiniec L (2008) Compared analysis of the regulatory systems controlling lipogenesis in hepatocytes of mice and in maturing oilseeds of Arabidopsis. Comptes Rendus Biol 331(10):737–745. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crvi.2008.07.015 - DOI
    1. Baud S, Mendoza MS, To A, Harscoët E, Lepiniec L, Dubreucq B (2007) WRINKLED1 specifies the regulatory action of LEAFY COTYLEDON2 towards fatty acid metabolism during seed maturation in Arabidopsis. Plant J 50:825–838. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-313X.2007.03092.x - DOI - PubMed

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources