Graph of Plant Oil Accumulation (IMAGE)
Caption
This graph shows how combining genetic mutations can increase the accumulation of oil in the leaves of a common laboratory plant. A is the wild type Arabidopsis plant with no mutations; B is Arabidopsis with two mutations that disrupt both the transport of sugar out of leaves and the conversion of sugar to starch; C has the same mutations as B plus two additional mutations: one to block another sugar-conversion pathway, and one to block the transport of lipids. The results suggest this biochemical-genetic strategy could contribute to increasing oil production and accumulation in the vegetative tissues of plants grown for biofuels or other commodity products.
Credit
Brookhaven National Laboratory
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