ABSTRACT

In most plant tissues the lipids are predominantly in the cellular membranes, but in seeds and fruit tissues storage lipids are also found. These storage lipids are valuable sources of a diverse range of oils which have numerous food and nonfood applications. It is for this reason that the study of oil biosynthesis has attracted much attention. In particular, the ability to alter specifically the composition of storage oils in existing crop plants towards particular markets, through genetic manipulation with transgenes, has driven much of the research effort into fatty acid and lipid biochemistry over the past ten years. Indeed, genetically engineered oilseed crops are already in the field. Before one is able to carry out these manipulations in a targeted manner it is vital to understand the underlying biochemistry behind the biosynthesis of plant lipids as a whole and of oil in particular. In this chapter we will describe the present state of understanding of the metabolism involved and then illustrate, using examples, how this knowledge has been applied towards manipulation of storage oil composition.