Skip to main content

Genetic Engineering for the Improvement of Oil Content and Associated Traits in Jatropha curcas L.

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Jatropha, Challenges for a New Energy Crop

Abstract

Interminably increasing petroleum rates and exhaustion of fossil reserves have ignited a global search for substitutes to renewable fuel sources. Many oil-generating plants, crops and trees have been considered for biofuel; among these Jatropha curcas is regarded as one of the most promising oilseed plants as its seeds contain oil content up to 35%. Because fossil oil consumption is increasing day-by-day, there is an urgent need to enhance the oil content. Transgenic technology is one of the advanced techniques that have been applied to enhance oil content and modify the composition of fatty acids in seed oils. Increasing seed oil content can be done by modifying the enzyme’s level expression in the triacylglycerol biosynthetic pathway. In this chapter, an effort is made to highlight the potential of transgenic technology towards the enhancement of the oil content and in altering the candidate gene expression for biosynthesis of triacylglycerol.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Annarao S, Sidhu OP, Roy R et al (2008) Lipid profiling of developing Jatropha curcas using 1H NMR spectroscopy. Bioresour Technol 99:9032–9035

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Banapurmath NR, Hosmath RS, Girish NM et al (2012) Combustion of Jatropha curcas oil, methyl esters and blends with diesel or ethanol in a CI engine (Ch. 29). In: Carels N, Sujatha M, Bahadur B (eds) Jatropha, challenges for a new energy crop: volume 1: Farming, economics and biofuel. Springer, New York, pp 557–570. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4806-8_29

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Brittaine R, Lutaladio N (2010) Jatropha: a smallholder bioenergy crop: the potential for pro-poor development, Integrated Crop Management. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome

    Google Scholar 

  • Cagliari A, Margis R, Felipe dos SM et al (2011) Biosynthesis of triacylglycerols (TAGs) in plants and algae. Int J Plant Biol 2:e10

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cahoon EB, Shockey JM, Dietrich CR et al (2007) Engineering oilseeds for sustainable production of industrial and nutritional feedstocks: solving bottlenecks in fatty acid flux. Curr Opin Plant Biol 10:236–244

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Carels N (2009) Jatropha curcas: a review. Adv Bot Res 50:39–86

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Carvalho CR, Clarindo WR, Praca MM et al (2008) Genome size, base composition and karyotype of Jatropha curcas L., an important biofuel plant. Plant Sci 174:613–617

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ceasar SA, Ignacimuthu S (2011) Applications of biotechnology and biochemical engineering for the improvement of Jatropha and biodiesel: a review. Renew Sust Energ Rev 15:5176–5185

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chen MS, Wang GJ, Wang RL et al (2011) Analysis of expressed sequence tags from biodiesel plant Jatropha curcas embryos at different developmental stages. Plant Sci 181:696–700

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Costa GGL, Kiara CC, LuĂ­s EV et al (2010) Transcriptome analysis of the oil-rich seed of the bioenergy crop Jatropha curcas L. BMC Genomics 11:462

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dong J, Keller WA, Yan W et al (2004) Gene expression at early stages of Brassica napus seed development as revealed by transcript profiling of seed-abundant cDNAs. Planta 218:483–491

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Durrett TP, Benning C, Ohlrogge J (2008) Plant triacylglycerols as feedstocks for the production of biofuels. Plant J 54:593–607

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dyer JM, Stymne S, Green AG et al (2008) High value oils from plants. Plant J 54:640–655

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Emil A, Yaakob Z, Kumar MNS et al (2010) Comparative evaluation of physicochemical properties of Jatropha seed oil from Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. J Am Oil Chem Soc 87(6):689–695

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Franca MG, Matos AR, Darcy-Lameta A et al (2008) Cloning and characterization of drought stimulated phosphatidic acid phosphatase genes from Vigna unguiculata. Plant Physiol Biochem 46:1093–1100

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Franco MC, Gomes KA, de Carvalho Filho MM et al (2016) Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of Jatropha curcas leaf explants with a fungal chitinase gene. Afr J Biotechnol 15:2006–2016

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gu K, Yi C, Tian D et al (2012) Expression of fatty acid and lipid biosynthetic genes in developing endosperm of Jatropha curcas. Biotechnol Biofuels 5:47

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gu K, Mao H, Yin Z (2014) Production of marker-free transgenic Jatropha curcas expressing hybrid Bacillus thuringiensis δ-endotoxin Cry1Ab/1Ac for resistance to larvae of tortrix moth (Archips micaceanus). Biotechnol Biofuels 7:68

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gubitz G, Mittelbach M, Trabi M (1999) Exploitation of the tropical oil seed plant Jatropha curcas L. Bioresour Technol 67:73–82

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jako C, Kumar A, Wei Y et al (2001) Seed-specific over-expression of an Arabidopsis cDNA encoding a diacylglycerol acyltransferase enhances seed oil content and seed weight. Plant Physiol 126:861–874

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jiang H, Wu P, Zhang S et al (2012) Global analysis of gene expression profiles in developing physic nut (Jatropha curcas L.) seeds. PLoS One 7:e36522

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy EP (1961) Biosynthesis of complex lipids. Fed Proc 20:934–940

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • King AJ, Li Y, Graham IA (2011) Profiling the developing Jatropha curcas L. seed transcriptome by pyrosequencing. Bioenergy Res 4:211–221

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kley G (2000) Use of genetic engineering in plant breeding-arrival of transgenic crop varieties on the market and public acceptance. Eur J Lipid Sci Technol 6:433–441

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knothe G (2008) “Designer” biodiesel: optimizing fatty ester composition to improve fuel properties. Energ Fuels 22:1358–1364

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Li MR, Li MQ, Wu GJ (2006) Study on factors influencing Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of Jatropha curcas. Fen Zi Xi Bao Sheng Wu Xue Bao 39:83–89

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Li M, Li H, Jiang H et al (2008) Establishment of an Agrobacterium mediated cotyledon disc transformation method for J. curcas. Plant Cell Tissue Organ Cult 92:173–181

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Li R, Yu K, Hildebrand DF (2010) DGAT1, DGAT2 and PDAT expression in seeds and other tissues of epoxy and hydroxy fatty acid accumulating plants. Lipids 45:145–157

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lindqvist Y, Huang W, Schneider G et al (1996) Crystal structure of delta 9 stearoyl-acyl carrier protein desaturase from castor seed and its relationship to di-iron proteins. EMBO J 15:4081–4092

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lung SC, Weselake RJ (2006) Diacylglycerol acyltransferase: a key mediator of plant triacylglycerol synthesis. Lipids 41:1073–1088

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayer KM, Shanklin J (2007) Identification of amino acid residues involved in substrate specificity of plant acyl-ACP thioesterases using a bioinformatics-guided approach. BMC Plant Biol 7:1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mazumdar P, Basu A, Paul A et al (2010) Age and orientation of the cotyledonary leaf explants determine the efficiency of de novo plant regeneration and Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation in Jatropha curcas L. S Afr J Bot 76:337–344

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Millar AA, Smith MA, Kunst L (2000) All fatty acids are not equal: discrimination in plant membrane lipids. Trends Plant Sci 5:95–101

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Moniruzzaman M, Zahira Y, Rahima K (2016) Biotechnology for Jatropha improvement: a worthy exploration. Renew Sust Energ Rev 54:1262–1277

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nakamura Y, Tsuchiya M, Ohta H (2007) Plastidic phosphatidic acid phosphatases identified in a distinct subfamily of lipid phosphate phosphatases with prokaryotic origin. J Biol Chem 282:29013–29021

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nikolau BJ, Ohlrogge JB, Wurtele ES (2003) Plant biotin-containing carboxylases. Arch Biochem Biophys 414:211–222

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nindita A, Iswari SD, Bambang SP et al (2015) Genetic improvement and biotechnology research of Jatropha curcas Linn. Review: future research opportunity and sustainability challenges in Indonesia. Conference and exhibition Indonesia – new, renewable energy and energy conservation (The 3rd Indo-EBTKE ConEx 2014)

    Google Scholar 

  • Niu Y, Wu GZ, Ye R et al (2009) Global analysis of gene expression profiles in Brassica napus developing seeds reveals a conserved lipid metabolism regulation with Arabidopsis thaliana. Mol Plant 2:1107–1122

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • O’Hara P, Slabas AR, Fawcett T (2002) Fatty acid and lipid biosynthetic genes are expressed at constant molar ratios but different absolute levels during embryogenesis. Plant Physiol 12:9310–9320

    Google Scholar 

  • Pollard MR, Anderson L, Fan C et al (1991) A specific acyl-ACP thioesterase implicated in medium-chain fatty acid production in immature cotyledons of Umbellularia californica. Arch Biochem Biophys 284:306–312

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pramanik K (2003) Properties and use of Jatropha curcas oil and diesel fuel blends in compression ignition engine. Renew Energy 28:161–164

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Puente-RodrĂ­guez D (2009) Biotechnologizing Jatropha for local sustainable development. Agric Hum Val 27:351–363

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Purkayastha J, Sugla T, Paul A et al (2010) Efficient in vitro plant regeneration from shoot apices and gene transfer by particle bombardment in Jatropha curcas. Biol Plant 54:13–20

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Purushothaman N, Deepa K, Gnanasekaran G et al (2010) Gene discovery from Jatropha curcas by sequencing of ESTs from normalized and full-length enriched cDNA library from developing seeds. BMC Genomics 11:606

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Qu J, Mao HZ, Chen W et al (2012) Development of marker-free transgenic Jatropha plants with increased levels of seed oleic acid. Biotechnol Biofuels 5:10

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Raorane M, Populechai S, Gatehouse AMR et al (2013) Proteomic perspectives on understanding and improving Jatropha curcas L. In: Bahadur B, Sujatha M, Carels N (eds) Jatropha, challenges for a new energy crop volume 2: Genetic improvement and biotechnology. Springer, New York, pp 375–391

    Google Scholar 

  • Routaboul JM, Benning C, Bechtold N et al (1999) The TAG1 locus of Arabidopsis encodes for a diacylglycerol acyltransferase. Plant Physiol Biochem 37:831–840

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ruuska SA, Girke T, Benning C et al (2002) Contrapuntal networks of gene expression during Arabidopsis seed filling. Plant Cell 14:1191–1206

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Salas JJ, Ohlrogge JB (2002) Characterization of substrate specificity of plant FatA and FatB acyl-ACP thioesterases. Arch Biochem Biophys 403:25–34

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Santos-Mendoza M, Dubreucq B, Baud S et al (2008) Deciphering gene regulatory networks that control seed development and maturation in Arabidopsis. The Plant J 54:608–620

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sato S, Hirakawa H, Isobe S et al (2011) Sequence analysis of the genome of an oil-bearing tree, Jatropha curcas L. DNA Res 18:65–76

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Shockey JM, Gidda SK, Chapital DC et al (2006) Tung tree DGAT1 and DGAT2 have nonredundant functions in triacylglycerol biosynthesis and are localized to different subdomains of the endoplasmic reticulum. Plant Cell 18:2294–2313

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Siloto RM, Truska M, Brownfield D et al (2009) Directed evolution of acyl-CoA:diacylglycerol acyltransferase: development and characterization of Brassica napus DGAT1 mutagenized libraries. Plant Physiol Biochem 47:456–461

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Singh DD, Dipti SD (2010) Biodiesel production through the use of different sources and characterization of oils and their esters as the substitute of diesel: a review. Renew Sust Energ Rev 14:200–216

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Somerville C, Browse J, Jaworski JG et al (2000) Lipids. In: Buchanan BB, Gruissem W, Jones RL (eds) Biochemistry and molecular biology of plants. American Society of Plant Physiologists, Rockville, pp 456–527

    Google Scholar 

  • Sood A, Singh R, Chauhan S (2015) Regulation of FA and TAG biosynthesis pathway genes in endosperms and embryos of high and low oil content genotypes of Jatropha curcas L. Plant Physiol Biochem 94:253–267

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Stymne SS (1987) Triacylglycerol biosynthesis. In: The biochemistry of plants: a comprehensive treatise. Academic, Orlando, pp 175–214

    Google Scholar 

  • Tai H, Jaworski JG (1993) 3-Ketoacyl-acyl carrier protein synthase III from spinach (Spinacia oleracea) is not similar to other condensing enzymes of fatty acid synthase. Plant Physiol 103:1361–1367

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tiwari AK, Kumar A, Raheman H (2007) Biodiesel production from Jatropha oil (Jatropha curcas) with high free fatty acids: an optimized process. Biomass Bioenergy 31:569–575

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tong L, Shu-Ming P, Wu-Yuan D et al (2006) Characterization of a new stearoyl-acyl, carrier protein desaturase gene from Jatropha curcas. Biotechnol Lett 28:657–662

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Troncoso-Ponce MA, Kilaru A, Cao X et al (2011) Comparative deep transcriptional profiling of four developing oil seeds. Plant J 68:1014–1027

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Turkish AR, Henneberry AL, Cromley D et al (2005) Identification of two novel human acyl-CoA wax alcohol acyltransferases: members of the diacylglycerol acyltransferase 2 (DGAT2) gene superfamily. J Biol Chem 280:14755–14764

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Voelker T, Kinney AJ (2001) Variations in the biosynthesis of seed-storage lipids. Annu Rev Plant Physiol Plant Mol Biol 52:335–361

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Weselake RJ, Taylor DC, Rahman MH et al (2009) Increasing the flow of carbon into seed oil. Biotechnol Adv 27:866–878

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Xu J, Francis T, Mietkiewska E et al (2008) Cloning and characterization of an acyl-CoA-dependent diacylglycerol acyltransferase 1 (DGAT1) gene from Tropaeolum majus, and a study of the functional motifs of the DGAT protein using site-directed mutagenesis to modify enzyme activity and oil content. Plant Biotechnol J 6:799–818

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Xu R, Wang R, Liu A (2011) Expression profiles of genes involved in fatty acid and triacylglycerol synthesis in developing seeds of Jatropha (Jatropha curcas L.). Biomass Bioenergy 35:1683–1692

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yang MF, Liu YJ, Liu Y et al (2009) Proteomic analysis of oil mobilization in seed germination and post germination development of Jatropha curcas. J Proteome Res 8(3):1441–1451

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ye J, Hong Y, Qu J et al (2013) Improvement of J. curcas oil by genetic transformation. In: Bahadur B, Sujatha M, Carels N (eds) Jatropha, challenges for a new energy crop volume 2: Genetic improvement and biotechnology. Springer, New York, pp 547–562

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang Y, Wang Y, Jiang L et al (2007) Aquaporin JcPIP2 is involved in drought responses in Jatropha curcas. Acta Biochim Biophys Sin 39(10):787–794

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang F, Niu B, Wang Y et al (2008) A novel betaine aldehyde dehydrogenase gene from Jatropha curcas, encoding an enzyme implicated in adaptation to environmental stress. Plant Sci 174:510–518

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zou J, Wei Y, Jako C et al (1999) The Arabidopsis thaliana TAG1 mutant has a mutation in a diacylglycerol acyltransferase gene. Plant J 19:645–653

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The manuscript number is PRIS (PRIS- CSIR-CSMCRI - 190/2018).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nitish Kumar .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Mastan, S.G., Rathore, M.S., Kumari, S., Muppala, R.P., Kumar, N. (2019). Genetic Engineering for the Improvement of Oil Content and Associated Traits in Jatropha curcas L.. In: Mulpuri, S., Carels, N., Bahadur, B. (eds) Jatropha, Challenges for a New Energy Crop. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-3104-6_6

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics