Studies of wax ester production and biochemical characterization of jojoba-type wax synthase in Arabidopsis thaliana ...

• Main Author: Liang, Wei-Wan Scott
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: University of British Columbia 2011
• Subjects: Arctic; Antarctic; Antarc*
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0072457; https://doi.library.ubc.ca/10.14288/1.0072457

Wax esters are components of surface lipids, serving as surface protectants for both terrestrial plants and animals. Wax esters are also specialized energy storage reserves for the organisms living in extreme environments, such as marine animals in Arctic and Antarctic oceans, the jojoba plant in the desert, and Acinetobacter species in the soil. Wax esters are also important substrates for industrial applications, such as the production of biodiesel, lubricants, cosmetics and polishes. Our current sources and production methods of wax esters from living organisms are not sufficient to meet market demands, so alternative sources including engineered oil crops that can generate sufficient amounts of wax esters are being sought. For my MSc project, I 1) investigated the feasibility of producing high levels of wax esters in the seed of Arabidopsis thaliana; 2) attempted to biochemically characterize new wax ester synthases that share amino acid similarity to the jojoba wax ester synthase; and 3) studied the ...