Characterization of diacylgycerol acyltransferase 1(DGAT1) gene from Jatropha curcas.

Jatropha curcas seed contain up to 40% oil. Due to the high seed oil yield, J. curcas has been identified as a possible source of plant triacylglycerides as feedstock for biodiesel production. As demand for biodiesel increases due to increasing price of petroleum and environmental concerns, it is of interest to genetically engineer cultivars of J. curcas that give higher seed oil yield. DGAT1 was identified as a possible target for genetic manipulation. This project dealt with the characterization of J. curcas DGAT1 gene in the model plant, Arabidopsis thaliana. Jatropha DGAT1 cDNA, placed under the control of a seed-specific promoter, was introduced into A. thaliana via agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Southern analysis was used to investigate the presence (or absence) of the transgene and its copy number in individual T0 generation lines. T1 progenies were cultivated in order to establish stable transgenic lines. To investigate if the seed-specific over-expression of DGAT1 in the transgenic lines complemented the reduced seed oil phenotype in AS11 mutants, crosses were performed between the over-expression lines and AS11 mutants. DGAT1 copy number in J. curcas was also investigated using Southern analysis and results show that DGAT1 gene has a low copy number in J. curcas.Bachelor of Science in Biological Science