Profiling of Metabolites in Oil Palm Mesocarp at Different Stages of Oil Biosynthesis

Oil
palm is one of the most productive oil producing crops and
can store up to 90% oil in its fruit mesocarp. However, the biosynthetic
regulation and drivers of palm mesocarp development are still not
well understood. Multiplatform metabolomics technology was used to
profile palm metabolites during six critical stages of fruit development
in order to better understand lipid biosynthesis. Significantly higher
amino acid levels were observed in palm mesocarp preceding lipid biosynthesis.
Nucleosides were found to be in high concentration during lipid biosynthesis,
whereas levels of metabolites involved in the tricarboxylic acid cycle
were more concentrated during early fruit development. Apart from
insights into the regulation of metabolites during fruit development
in oil palm, these results provide potentially useful metabolite yield
markers and genes of interest for use in breeding programs.