Plastocyanin functions as an electron carrier in the photosynthetic electron transport chain, located at the thylakoid membrane. In several species, endogenous plastocyanin levels are correlated with ...the photosynthetic electron transport rate. Overexpression of plastocyanin genes in Arabidopsis thaliana increases plant size, but this phenomenon has not been observed in crop species. Here, we investigated the effects of heterologous expression of a gene encoding a plastocyanin isoform from Arabidopsis, AtPETE2, in the oil seed crop Camelina sativa under standard growth conditions and under salt stress. AtPETE2 heterologous expression enhanced photosynthetic activity in Camelina, accelerating plant development and improving seed yield under standard growth conditions. Additionally, CsPETE2 from Camelina was induced by salt stress and AtPETE2 expression lines had larger primary roots and more lateral roots than the wild type. AtPETE2 expression lines also had larger seeds and higher total seed yield under long-term salt stress compared with non-transgenic Camelina. Our results demonstrate that increased plastocyanin levels in Camelina can enhance photosynthesis and productivity, as well as tolerance to osmotic and salt stresses. Heterologous expression of plastocyanin may be a useful strategy to mitigate crop stress in saline soils.
•Heterologous expression of Arabidopsis plastocyanin gene PETE2 in Camelina sativa optimizes photosynthetic activity.•Optimized photosynthetic activity leads to accelerated plant development and improved seed yield.•Increased plastocyanin level in Camelina sativa improves tolerance to salt stress.
Chitinases belong to the group of Pathogenesis-related (PR) proteins that provides protection against fungal pathogens. This study presents the, genome-wide identification and characterization of ...chitinase gene family in two important oilseed crops B. juncea and C. sativa belonging to family Brassicaceae. We have identified 47 and 79 chitinase genes in the genomes of B. juncea and C. sativa, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis of chitinases in both the species revealed four distinct sub-groups, representing different classes of chitinases (I-V). Microscopic and biochemical study reveals the role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging enzymes in disease resistance of B. juncea and C. sativa. Furthermore, qRT-PCR analysis showed that expression of chitinases in both B. juncea and C. sativa was significantly induced after Alternaria brassicae infection. However, the fold change in chitinase gene expression was considerably higher in C. sativa compared to B. juncea, which further proves their role in C. sativa disease resistance to A. brassicae. This study provides comprehensive analysis on chitinase gene family in B. juncea and C. sativa and in future may serve as a potential candidate for improving disease resistance in B. juncea through transgenic approach.
•Chitinases are important group of PR-proteins which plays a key role in plant defense against pathogens.•Fourty seven and seventy-nine chitinase genes were identified in B. juncea and C. sativa genomes respectively.•Biochemical analysis reveals the role of ROS scavenging enzymes in C. sativa during Alternaria infection.•Transcriptional analysis highlights the role of chitinase (IV & V) genes in A. brassicae disease resistance.
•Winter oilseed crops provide ecosystem and agricultural services.•Pennycress, camelina, and canola had peak activity of 6722, and 61 insects min−1.•Pennycress, camelina, and canola flowers produced ...13, 100, and 82kg of sugar ha−1.•Seed yield reached 1.1, 1.4, and 1.2Mgha−1 for pennycress, camelina, and canola.•Camelina has the highest agroecosystem value of the three crops.
As pollinator decline continues, the need to provide high value forage for insects increases. Finding agricultural crops to diversify the landscape and provide forage is one way to improve pollinator health. Three winter industrial oilseed crops (pennycress, winter camelina, and winter canola) were grown in Morris, Minnesota, and Brookings, South Dakota, during the winters of 2012–2013 and 2013–2014. Each of the three crops has pollinator-friendly flowers and value as winter cover crops and cash seed crops. The crops were evaluated for pollinator use, nectar production, green cover, and yield. Pennycress, camelina, and canola flowers had high insect activity with maximum visitation rates of 67±11.5, 22±3.1, and 61±6.8 insects min−1. Cumulative nectar produced by pennycress, camelina, and canola was 13, 100, and 82kg of sugar ha−1 during the 2014 anthesis period, providing an important food resource to pollinators during early spring when there is little else on the agricultural landscape that is blooming. Green cover in early spring ranged from 0 to 60% amongst the three crops, with camelina providing >25% green cover across all four site-years. Maximum seed yields were 1.1±0.04, 1.4±0.05, and 1.2±0.19Mgha−1 for pennycress, camelina, and canola, respectively, which are economically viable harvests. Of the three crops, winter camelina provided the highest combined agroecosystem value through pollinator resources, green cover, and seed yields.
Summary
Omega‐3 (also called n‐3) long‐chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (≥C20; LC‐PUFAs) are of considerable interest, based on clear evidence of dietary health benefits and the concurrent decline ...of global sources (fish oils). Generating alternative transgenic plant sources of omega‐3 LC‐PUFAs, i.e. eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5 n‐3, EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (22:6 n‐3, DHA) has previously proved problematic. Here we describe a set of heterologous genes capable of efficiently directing synthesis of these fatty acids in the seed oil of the crop Camelina sativa, while simultaneously avoiding accumulation of undesirable intermediate fatty acids. We describe two iterations: RRes_EPA in which seeds contain EPA levels of up to 31% (mean 24%), and RRes_DHA, in which seeds accumulate up to 12% EPA and 14% DHA (mean 11% EPA and 8% DHA). These omega‐3 LC‐PUFA levels are equivalent to those in fish oils, and represent a sustainable, terrestrial source of these fatty acids. We also describe the distribution of these non‐native fatty acids within C. sativa seed lipids, and consider these data in the context of our current understanding of acyl exchange during seed oil synthesis.
Electromagnetic waves are one of the tensions around agricultural plants, which have recently been widely used due to the development of telecommunication technology. Therefore, a field experiment ...was conducted during the years 2020-2021 at the Research Farm of Tarbiat Modares University to investigate the effect of WiFi electromagnetic wave (WEW) on the seed germination and growth characteristics of camelina. Seeds were exposed to Wi-Fi electromagnetic radiation at 15 cm (ER 15) and 25 cm (ER 25) cm from the modem for 24 hours (Pre-sowing treatment). The results showed that the germination percentage of seeds treated with WEW decreased by 24%. and this decrease was observed among growth factors such as hypocotyl length (20-43%), number of siliques per plant (56%), thousand seed weight (43%). Conversely, the root length, plant height, seed per silique and dry plant weight were increased by 24.6, 60.9, 10.5 and 56.3% under WEW treatment, respectively. Overall, this study showed that grain yield was greatly affected by electromagnetic waves and increased by about 23.45%. In general, among all the growth parameters, the correlation of the GY was positive and significant with DPW (r=0.735*), PH (r=0.669*) and SPS (r=0.659*). This result highlights the necessity for a better understanding of the mechanisms of electromagnetic waves in crops to help better seedling establishment.
The reaction kinetics of transesterification of
Camelina sativa oil using metal oxide catalysts under the conventional heating and the microwave-heating conditions were investigated. The ...transesterification reaction rates and the fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) conversion rates were determined using heterogeneous metal oxide catalysts, i.e., BaO, CaO, MgO and SrO and two different heating methods. It was observed during the kinetic studies in this work that the BaO and SrO catalysts generated higher FAME yields than the CaO and MgO catalysts. A comparison between the conventional heating and the microwave-assisted transesterification processes showed that the reaction rate constants obtained in the microwave-assisted transesterification process are of two orders of magnitude higher than those obtained with the conventional heating method. Therefore, it can be well concluded that the heating method and solid catalysts play vital roles in improving the reaction kinetics and optimizing the reactors for biomass conversion to biodiesel.
(L.) Crantz is an important Brassicaceae oil crop with a number of excellent agronomic traits including low water and fertilizer input, strong adaptation and resistance. Furthermore, its short life ...cycle and easy genetic transformation, combined with available data of genome and other "-omics" have enabled camelina as a model oil plant to study lipid metabolism regulation and genetic improvement. Particularly, camelina is capable of rapid metabolic engineering to synthesize and accumulate high levels of unusual fatty acids and modified oils in seeds, which are more stable and environmentally friendly. Such engineered camelina oils have been increasingly used as the super resource for edible oil, health-promoting food and medicine, biofuel oil and high-valued chemical production. In this review, we mainly highlight the latest advance in metabolic engineering towards the predictive manipulation of metabolism for commercial production of desirable bio-based products using camelina as an ideal platform. Moreover, we deeply analysis camelina seed metabolic engineering strategy and its promising achievements by describing the metabolic assembly of biosynthesis pathways for acetyl glycerides, hydroxylated fatty acids, medium-chain fatty acids, ω-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, palmitoleic acid (ω-7) and other high-value oils. Future prospects are discussed, with a focus on the cutting-edge techniques in camelina such as genome editing application, fine directed manipulation of metabolism and future outlook for camelina industry development.
Currently, one alternative for dietary fish oil (FO) in aquafeeds is vegetable oils (VO) that are devoid of omega-3 (n-3) long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs). Entirely new sources of ...n-3 LC-PUFA such as eicosapentaenoic (EPA) and docosahexaenoic (DHA) acids through de novo production are a potential solution to fill the gap between supply and demand of these important nutrients. Camelina sativa was metabolically engineered to produce a seed oil (ECO) with >20% EPA and its potential to substitute for FO in Atlantic salmon feeds was tested. Fish were fed with one of the three experimental diets containing FO, wild-type camelina oil (WCO) or ECO as the sole lipid sources for 7weeks. Inclusion of ECO did not affect any of the performance parameters studied and enhanced apparent digestibility of individual n-6 and n-3 PUFA compared to dietary WCO. High levels of EPA were maintained in brain, liver and intestine (pyloric caeca), and levels of DPA and DHA were increased in liver and intestine of fish fed ECO compared to fish fed WCO likely due to increased LC-PUFA biosynthesis based on up-regulation of the genes. Fish fed ECO showed slight lipid accumulation within hepatocytes similar to that with WCO, although not significantly different to fish fed FO. The regulation of a small number of genes could be attributed to the specific effect of ECO (311 features) with metabolism being the most affected category. The EPA oil from transgenic Camelina (ECO) could be used as a substitute for FO, however it is a hybrid oil containing both FO (EPA) and VO (18:2n-6) fatty acid signatures that resulted in similarly mixed metabolic and physiological responses.
•A high-EPA oil (ECO) derived from transgenic Camelina was evaluated as a substitute for fish oil (FO) in salmon feeds•Substitution of FO by ECO did not affect fish performance and enhanced apparent digestibility of fatty acids compared to FO•ECO-fed fish maintained high levels of EPA in their tissues and showed no major transcriptomic changes in pyloric caeca.•ECO was demonstrated to be a potentially suitable substitute for FO in salmon feeds.
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