Fatty Acid Biosynthesis in Plants — Metabolic Pathways, Structure and Organization

Progress in the elucidation of metabolic pathways for fatty acid and triacylglycerol biosynthesis in plants is reviewed, together with evidence for gene function. Research in this area is being driven by the importance of storage lipids as potential new raw materials to replace petrochemicals. Significant advances have been made in the structural analysis of a number of the soluble enzymes in these pathways but progress still has to be made on membrane-bound enzymes. Many of the enzymes of triacylglycerol biosynthesis have been identified but the relative importance of the acyl-CoA dependent and independent pathways remains to be determined. The role of particular isoenzymes in specific triacylglycerol assembly remains a major challenge together with determining higher orders of enzyme interaction and metabolic channeling.