DGAT相关基因研究进展

DGAT是一种甘油酰基转移酶（Diacylgycerol Acyltransferase,DGAT）,该酶与脂肪代谢、脂类在组织中的沉积有很大关系,它的主要作用机制是使二酰甘油加上脂肪酸酰基形成三酰甘油。编码该酶的基因有DGAT1和GAAT2,前者属于ACAT基因家族,后者属于MGAT1基因家族。本文综述了动物DGAT相关基因定位、结构、生物学效应及其多态性与生产性能的关系。     

拟南芥TAG1基因对脂类合成调控作用的研究进展

三酰甘油（TAG）是真核生物中能量贮存的最主要形式。植物中贮存的三酰甘油是食用油类和工业用油的主要来源。TAG1基因的表达产物甘油二酯酰基转移酶（DGAT）能够调控三酰甘油的合成。as11是TAG1基因突变获得的脂类代谢相关突变体。该文概述了拟南芥（Arabidopsis thaliana）突变体as11的生物学特征及TAG1基因对脂类合成调控的最新进展。     

新型可再生工业用油脂的代谢工程

植物种子油是一种可再生资源,亦用作生物燃油和化学工业原料. 一些野生植物能高水平合成积累羟化、环氧化和共轭脂肪酸等具有重要工业应用价值的特异脂肪酸.催化这些特异脂肪酸合成的酶主要是类脂肪酸去胞和酶2(类FAD2). 由特异脂肪酸合成到三酰基甘油脂 (TAG) 形成还需要酰基转移酶 (如DGAT) 的参与. 在油料作物种子中表达类FAD2酶及其相关基因(如DGAT),已培育出了能合成积累一定含量特异脂肪酸的工程油料品系,为基于农作物生产高附加值工业用油脂开辟了新途径. 本文论述了参与特异脂肪酸生物合成途径的关键酶基因、油料作物代谢工程策略,以及应用工程油料作物大规模生产重要工业用脂肪酸的研究进展、存在问题和应用前景等.     

二脂酰甘油酰基转移酶2 (DGAT2)基因研究进展

二脂酰甘油酰基转移酶2 (Acyl CoA: Diacylgycerol Acyltransferase 2, DGAT2)是生物体内的一种非常重要的酶, 其主要机制是使二酰甘油加上脂肪酸酰基辅酶A以共价健结合形成三酰甘油。编码该酶的基因有DGAT2和DGAT1。文章综述了DGAT2基因的发现、定位、结构、生物学效应及其遗传多态性与生产性能的关系, 并对其应用前景进行了展望。     

在基因家族背景下对四种植物中DGAT2的鉴定和序列分析

二酰甘油酰基转移酶2(Diacylglycerol O-acyltransferase 2,DGAT2)是植物中三羧酸甘油酯(TAG)合成途径的限速酶,其编码基因属于酰基转移酶基因超家族。本研究依托植物全基因组数据库Phytozome,通过BLAST搜索获得了蓖麻(Ricinus communis L.)、拟南芥(Arabidopsis thaliana Heynh.)、毛果杨(Populus tricho-carpa Torr.A.Gray.)和木薯(Manihot esculenta Crantz.)4种双子叶植物酰基转移酶基因超家族所编码的73条多肽序列,并从中鉴定出5条DGAT2序列。理化性质和跨膜结构域分析表明,5条DGAT2序列均为疏水性跨膜蛋白,其中木薯DGAT2为一次跨膜蛋白且在叶绿体膜中大量分布,这与其他植物的DGAT2序列存在差异;木薯DGAT2蛋白在进化过程中发生了功能分化且可能与木薯的抗逆作用有关。     

蒺藜苜蓿DGAT1基因的克隆和功能鉴定

该研究采用RT-PCR与电子克隆的方法,从蒺藜苜蓿cDNA中克隆得到2个编码二脂酰甘油酰基转移酶(diacylglycerol acyltransferase,DGAT)的基因MtDGAT1-1和MtDGAT1-2。MtDGAT1-1长1 620bp,编码539个氨基酸;MtDGAT1-2长1 524bp,编码507个氨基酸。多序列比对显示,MtDGAT1-1和MtDGAT1-2编码蛋白具有典型的植物DGAT1结构域。表达分析显示,MtDGAT1-1和MtDGAT1-2在根、茎、叶、花、种子中都有表达,在种子发育中高表达,且MtDGAT1-1于种子发育的中前期高表达,而MtDGAT1-2于种子发育的中后期高表达。酵母互补实验证实,MtDGAT1-2编码蛋白具有DGAT酶活性,能够恢复H1246的TAG合成和油体形成;而MtDGAT1-1编码蛋白不能恢复H1246的TAG合成和油体形成。     

拟南芥TAG1 基因对脂类合成调控作用的研究进展

三酰甘油(TAG)是真核生物中能量贮存的最主要形式。植物中贮存的三酰甘油是食用油类和工业用油的主要来源。TAG1基因的表达产物甘油二酯酰基转移酶(DGAT)能够调控三酰甘油的合成。as11是TAG1基因突变获得的脂类代谢相关突变体。该文概述了拟南芥(Arabidopsis thaliana)突变体as11的生物学特征及TAG1基因对脂类合成调控的最新进展。     

烟草二脂酰甘油酰基转移酶基因(NtDGAT2)的克隆与功能分析

二脂酰甘油酰基转移酶(diacylglycerol acyltransferase,DGAT2)是植物储存油脂生物合成过程中的关键酶,对种子储存油脂累积具有重要的生理作用。本文采用电子克隆与实验相结合的方法,从烟草种子cDNA中克隆到DGAT2基因的开放阅读框序列,命名为NtDGAT2(GenBank登录号JX843807),其序列长999bp,编码332个氨基酸。多序列比对和进化分析表明该基因编码蛋白与其他植物DGAT2具有较高相似性和典型的DGAT2结构域。利用Real-time PCR定量表达分析显示Nt-DGAT2在烟草种子、花、茎、叶和根里面都有表达,且在发育中的种子和花的发育过程大量表达。酵母互补实验证实该基因编码蛋白具有DGAT酶活性。     

花生DGAT3的生物信息学分析

三酰甘油(TAG)是真核细胞最重要的能量储存形式,而酰基-Co A:二酰甘油酰基转移酶(DGAT)是生物体内三酰甘油合成过程中的关键酶。DGAT分为DGAT1、DGAT2和DGAT3三个家族,其中DGAT1和DGAT2均为膜结合蛋白,而DGAT3为细胞质游离蛋白。花生DGAT3是第一种被发现的DGAT3家族成员,该酶的分子量为41±1.0 k D。通过生物信息学研究花生DGAT3的特性,对于进一步研究花生三酰甘油的合成过程以及通过生物工程提高花生产油量都有重要意义。     

哺乳动物DGAT基因及其生物学功能研究进展

二酰基甘油酰基转移酶(DGAT, EC2.3.1.20)是一种微粒体酶, 与脂肪代谢、脂类在组织中的沉积有很大关系, 它的主要作用机制是使二酰甘油加上脂肪酸酰基形成三酰甘油。DGAT在细胞甘油代谢中起根本性的作用, 并在高等真核生物甘油三酯代谢途径如肠脂肪吸收、脂蛋白集合、脂肪形成和泌乳中发挥着重要的功能, 提示DGAT不仅是调控甘油三酯与脂肪酸之间的关键因子, 而且可能在动物脂肪沉积中起着关键的调控作用。     

Arabidopsis mutants deficient in diacylglycerol acyltransferase display increased sensitivity to abscisic acid,sugars, and osmotic stress during germination and seedling development

Arabidopsis seeds store triacylglycerol (TAG) as the major carbon reserve, which is used to support postgerminative seedling growth. Diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT) catalyzes the final step in TAG synthesis, and two isoforms of DGAT have previously been identified in Arabidopsis. It has been shown that DGAT1 plays an important role in seed development because Arabidopsis with mutations at the TAG1 locus accumulate less seed oil. There is also evidence showing that DGAT1 is active after seed germination. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of mutations of DGAT1 on postembryonic development in Arabidopsis. We carried out detailed analyses of two tag1 mutants in different ecotypic backgrounds of Arabidopsis. Results show that during germination and seedling growth, seed storage TAG degradation was not affected in the tag1 mutants. However, sugar content of the mutant seedlings is altered, and activities of the hexokinases are significantly increased in the tag1 mutant seedlings. The tag1 mutants are also more sensitive to abscisic acid, glucose, and osmotic strength of the medium in germination and seedling growth.     

Expression pattern of diacylglycerol acyltransferase-1, an enzyme involved in triacylglycerol biosynthesis,in Arabidopsis thaliana

Triacylglycerol (TAG) is the major carbon storage reserve in oilseeds such as Arabidopsis. Acyl-CoA:diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT) catalyses the final step of the TAG synthesis pathway. Although TAG is mainly accumulated during seed development, and DGAT has presumably the highest activity in developing seeds, we show here that TAG synthesis is also actively taking place during germination and seedling development in Arabidopsis. The expression pattern of the DGAT1 gene was studied in transgenic plants containing the reporter gene -glucuronidase (GUS) fused with DNA sequences flanking the DGAT1coding region. GUS activity was not only detected in developing seeds and pollen, which normally accumulate storage TAG, but also in germinating seeds and seedlings. Western blots showed that DGAT1 protein is present in several tissues, though is most abundant in developing seeds. In seedlings, DGAT1 is expressed in shoot and root apical regions, correlating with rapid cell division and growth. The expression of GUS in seedlings was consistent with the results of RNA gel blot analyses, precursor feeding and DGAT assay. In addition, DGAT1gene expression is up-regulated by glucose and associated with glucose-induced changes in seedling development.     

Identification and functional expression of a type 2 acyl-CoA:diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT2) in developing castor bean seeds which has high homology to the major triglyceride biosynthetic enzyme of fungi and animals

Seed oil from castor bean (Ricinus communis) contains high amounts of hydroxy fatty acid rich triacylglycerols (TAGs) that can serve as raw material for production of bio-based products such as nylon, cosmetics, lubricants, foams, and surfactants. Diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT) catalyses the terminal reaction in the acyl-CoA dependent Kennedy pathway of triglyceride biosynthesis. There is still some debate whether there are three or four enzymes in yeast that have DGAT activity and catalyse the synthesis of TAG but of these the DGAT2 homologue Dga1 contributes in a major way to TAG biosynthesis. Here we report on the cloning of a cDNA for DGAT2 from castor bean and prove its biological activity following expression in yeast and enzymatic assays using diricinolein as the acceptor and ricinoleoyl-CoA as the donor. Previous reports of DGAT in castor have focussed on DGAT1 which has little amino acid sequence homology to DGAT2. Expressional studies demonstrate that DGAT2 is 18-fold more highly expressed in seeds than in leaves and shows temporal specific expression during seed development. In contrast, DGAT1 shows little difference in expression in seeds versus leaves. We conclude that in castor bean DGAT2 is more likely to play a major role in seed TAG biosynthesis than DGAT1.     

In Vivo and in Vitro Evidence for Biochemical Coupling of Reactions Catalyzed by Lysophosphatidylcholine Acyltransferase and Diacylglycerol Acyltransferase

Seed oils of flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) and many other plant species contain substantial amounts of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). Phosphatidylcholine (PC) is the major site for PUFA synthesis. The exact mechanisms of how these PUFAs are channeled from PC into triacylglycerol (TAG) needs to be further explored. By using in vivo and in vitro approaches, we demonstrated that the PC deacylation reaction catalyzed by the reverse action of acyl-CoA:lysophosphatidylcholine acyltransferase (LPCAT) can transfer PUFAs on PC directly into the acyl-CoA pool, making these PUFAs available for the diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT)-catalyzed reaction for TAG production. Two types of yeast mutants were generated for in vivo and in vitro experiments, respectively. Both mutants provide a null background with no endogenous TAG forming capacity and an extremely low LPCAT activity. In vivo experiments showed that co-expressing flax DGAT1-1 and LPCAT1 in the yeast quintuple mutant significantly increased 18-carbon PUFAs in TAG with a concomitant decrease of 18-carbon PUFAs in phospholipid. We further showed that after incubation of sn-2-[¹⁴C]acyl-PC, formation of [¹⁴C]TAG was only possible with yeast microsomes containing both LPCAT1 and DGAT1-1. Moreover, the specific activity of overall LPCAT1 and DGAT1-1 coupling process exhibited a preference for transferring ¹⁴C-labeled linoleoyl or linolenoyl than oleoyl moieties from the sn-2 position of PC to TAG. Together, our data support the hypothesis of biochemical coupling of the LPCAT1-catalyzed reverse reaction with the DGAT1-1-catalyzed reaction for incorporating PUFAs into TAG. This process represents a potential route for enriching TAG in PUFA content during seed development in flax.     

Directed evolution of acyl-CoA:diacylglycerol acyltransferase: Development and characterization of Brassica napus DGAT1 mutagenized libraries

Metabolic flux to triacylglycerol (TAG) may be limited by the level of acyl-CoA:diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT, EC 2.3.1.20) activity. In some species, this enzyme also appears to play a role in the channeling of specific fatty acyl moieties into TAG. The objective of this work is to implement a directed evolution approach to enhance the catalytic efficiency of type-1 DGAT from Brassica napus (BnDGAT1). We generated randomly mutagenized libraries of BnDGAT1 in a yeast expression vector using error-prone PCR. The mutagenized libraries were used to transform a Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain devoid of neutral lipid biosynthesis and analyzed using a high-throughput screening (HTS) system. The HTS, recently developed for this purpose, consisted of a positive selection of clones expressing active DGAT mutants followed by quantification of DGAT activity by fluorescence detection of TAG in yeast cells. The initial results indicated that the positive selection system efficiently eliminated DGAT mutants lacking enzyme activity. Screening of 1528 selected mutants revealed that some DGAT clones had enhanced ability to synthesize TAG in yeast. This was confirmed by analysis of individual clones that could carry mutations resulting in an increased catalytic efficiency. The directed evolution approach could lead to the development of an improved plant DGAT1 for increasing seed oil content in oleaginous crops.     

Developmental Regulation of Diacylglycerol Acyltransferase Family Gene Expression in Tung Tree Tissues

Diacylglycerol acyltransferases (DGAT) catalyze the final and rate-limiting step of triacylglycerol (TAG) biosynthesis in eukaryotic organisms. DGAT genes have been identified in numerous organisms. Multiple isoforms of DGAT are present in eukaryotes. We previously cloned DGAT1 and DGAT2 genes of tung tree (Vernicia fordii), whose novel seed TAGs are useful in a wide range of industrial applications. The objective of this study was to understand the developmental regulation of DGAT family gene expression in tung tree. To this end, we first cloned a tung tree gene encoding DGAT3, a putatively soluble form of DGAT that possesses 11 completely conserved amino acid residues shared among 27 DGAT3s from 19 plant species. Unlike DGAT1 and DGAT2 subfamilies, DGAT3 is absent from animals. We then used TaqMan and SYBR Green quantitative real-time PCR, along with northern and western blotting, to study the expression patterns of the three DGAT genes in tung tree tissues. Expression results demonstrate that 1) all three isoforms of DGAT genes are expressed in developing seeds, leaves and flowers; 2) DGAT2 is the major DGAT mRNA in tung seeds, whose expression profile is well-coordinated with the oil profile in developing tung seeds; and 3) DGAT3 is the major form of DGAT mRNA in tung leaves, flowers and immature seeds prior to active tung oil biosynthesis. These results suggest that DGAT2 is probably the major TAG biosynthetic isoform in tung seeds and that DGAT3 gene likely plays a significant role in TAG metabolism in other tissues. Therefore, DGAT2 should be a primary target for tung oil engineering in transgenic organisms.     

ABA-insensitive (ABI) 4 and ABI5 synergistically regulate DGAT1 expression in Arabidopsis seedlings under stress

Triacylglycerol (TAG) accumulation is essential for seed maturation in plants. Diacylglycerol acyltransferase 1 (DGAT1) is the rate-limiting enzyme in TAG biosynthesis. In this study, we show that TAG accumulation in Arabidopsis seedlings is correlated with environmental stress, and both ABI4 and ABI5 play important roles in regulating DGAT1 expression. Tobacco transient assays revealed the synergistic effect of ABI4 with ABI5 in regulating DGAT1 expression. Taken together, our findings indicate ABI5 is an important accessory factor with ABI4 in the activation of DGAT1 in Arabidopsis seedlings under stress.