The increased research and awareness of the environmental impacts of fossil fuels have raised interest in the development of alternative fuels. One avenue of research into renewable fuel lies in food products such as plant and seed oils which are concentrated with energy-rich triacylglycerols (TAGs) and wax esters. These are most often harvested from small fruits and seeds, making product yield too small to warrant mass production. In this research project, engineered argobacteria were used to deliver two jojoba wax ester production genes into the plant species <i>N. benthamiana </i>to attempt to increase wax ester yields. The genes of interest were fatty acyl co-reductase (FACR) and wax synthase (WS), both of which are known to be involved in the production of wax esters in the jojoba plant. Jojoba wax esters were chosen specifically because they are known to generate numerous long chain fatty acids (LCFA). Various amounts of LCFAs were detected using GCMS analysis of the leaf tissues containing both the genes of interest, WS and FACR. We hope to continue this research into producing a higher yield of energy-rich wax esters, TAGs, and LCFA by exploring the effects of other genes known to be involved in production of these products and how to use them to increase plant oil production.

Jojoba wax ester accumulation in tobacco leaves

ACS Spring 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.