Abstract

Epicuticular and intracuticular wax forms hydrophobic barriers that act as a major defense mechanism in plants. This waxy layer protects plants from environmental changes, insects, and water depletion. Cuticular wax is mainly composed of long chain aliphatic compounds derived from very long chain fatty acids. The wax composition in plants varies between species but is also dependent on environmental factors. Wax esters are one of the main components in the cuticular layer in some plants The wax esters are formed by the esterification of fatty acids to fatty alcohols and the only known enzymes this reaction utilize acyl-CoAs to esterify free fatty alcohols However we will here present results of a novel wax ester synthesizing enzyme, a Diacylglycerol:Alcohol Acyltransferase (DAAT). This enzyme acylates long chain fatty alcohols with acyl groups from diacylglycerols in the absence of CoA. DAAT activity is found in both leaf and root tissues in A. thaliana

Published in

Conference

16th International Plant Lipid Symposium

SLU Authors

• Neal, Andrea

  • Department of Crop Science, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Stymne, Sten

  • Department of Crop Science, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Agricultural Science


Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/5385