Analysis of Coix Seed Oil Biosynthesis Facilitates the Identification of Lysophosphatidic Acid Acyltransferase

Coix seed oil (CSO) is a natural
substance with significant
anticancer
potential. However, the molecular mechanism and the gene regulatory
network of lipid biosynthesis were not identified in Coix seed. Here,
a comprehensive transcriptome analysis was conducted on two Coix varieties with different lipid contents. The results
revealed that a total of 48,110 genes were generated by de novo assembly,
of which 84.45% genes were successfully annotated by the database.
Based on functional annotation and gene expression, the metabolic
network of crucial genes for oil accumulation and fatty acid (FA)
synthesis in Coix seed has been successfully established, and it has
been confirmed that lysophosphatidic acid acyltransferase (LPAT) in
triacylglycerol (TAG) biosynthesis contributed to the changes in the
content of FAs and had a significant selective binding ability to
unsaturated fatty acids (UFAs) by the heterologous expression of yeast.
Our data provides valuable references for subsequent gene function
characterization and biosynthesis pathway optimization.