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Reduction of Trienoic Fatty Acid Content by Expression of a Double-Stranded RNA of a Plastid omega-3 fatty Acid Desaturase Gene in Transgenic Tobacco.

Hamada T, Iba K, Shimada T

Research Institute for Bioresources and Biotechnology, Ishikawa Prefectural University, Nonoichimachi, Ishikawa, 921-8836, Japan, hamada@ishikawa-pu.ac.jp.

Plastid omega-3 fatty acid desaturase catalyzes the conversion of dienoic fatty acids (16:2 and 18:2) to trienoic fatty acids (16:3 and alpha-18:3) in glycerolipids which are the main constituents of chloroplast membranes. We produced transgenic tobacco plants that express the transcript of a double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) of tobacco plastid omega-3 fatty acid desaturase gene, NtFAD7. In these transgenic plants, 16:3 and alpha-18:3 content in leaves decreased to less than 2.7% and 7.5-10.4%, respectively, when compared with the control plant. The steady-state NtFAD7 mRNA was not detected in the transgenic plants. These results indicate that down-regulation of the transcript level in the NtFAD7 by introduction of NtFAD7 dsRNA constructs is useful to decrease the trienoic fatty acid contents of the vegetative tissues in higher plants.

Published 23 May 2006 in Biotechnol Lett.
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