Biotechnology Bulletin ›› 2017, Vol. 33 ›› Issue (12): 51-60.doi: 10.13560/j.cnki.biotech.bull.1985.2017-0391

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Research Advances on Metabolism of Higher Fatty Acids in Nicotiana tabacum and Its Affecting Factors

YANG Li-yun1, YANG Shuang-long1, LI Jun-ying2, PANG Tao2, HE Bin3, GONG Ming1   

  1. 1. School of Life Sciences,Engineering Research Center of Sustainable Development and Utilization of Biomass Energy,Ministry of Education,Key Laboratory of Biomass Energy and Environmental Biotechnology of Yunnan Province,Yunnan Normal University,Kunming 650500;
    2. Yunnan Academy of Tobacco Agricultural Sciences,Kunming 650031;
    3. Yunnan Tobacco Leaf Company,Kunming 650218
  • Received:2017-05-13 Online:2017-12-25 Published:2017-12-21

Abstract: As one kind of important compounds in tobacco plants,fatty acids play remarkable roles in their growth and development,as well as tobacco quality and flavor. Recently,it also has been verified that fatty acids are involved in the formation of stress tolerance in tobacco plants. Tobacco seeds are rich in lipids and various kinds of fatty acids,and the contents of linoleic acid,oleic acid and palmitic acid increase gradually with the developing of tobacco seeds;and they can be considered to be utilized as a potential biomass source. During the process of growth and development of tobacco leaves,fatty acid contents increase gradually,reach the maximum when tobacco plants are blooming,then decrease during maturing and senescing of tobacco leaves;at the same time,the saturated fatty acids are transformed into the unsaturated ones. Moreover,the contents of fatty acids are higher in lower and middle leaves than those in upper ones of tobacco plants,and also higher in palisade tissue than in spongy tissue in tobacco leaves. In addition,genotype and environmental factors such as light irradiation,temperature,geographical factors,fertilization,flue-curing methods,mechanical injury and so on apply significant effects on composition and content of fatty acids,as well as key enzyme activities and their gene expressions in the biosynthesis and metabolism of fatty acids in tobacco leaves. Chill-hardening may enhance chilling resistance of tobacco plants by increasing the contents of the polyunsaturated fatty acids and reducing the contents of saturated fatty acids. It is also an effective method to increase the contents of unsaturated fatty acids in tobacco plants with over-expressing the genes of the acyl-ACP desaturase,ACP,fatty acids desaturase and fatty acids dehydrogenase by genetic engineering,which in turn improves the stress tolerance of tobacco plants to abiotic stresses,such as drought,high temperature and highlight stress and so on. Based on the above-mentioned works,the paper presents the future research direction,aiming at providing the theoretical and practical guidance for the study of this field.

Key words: Nicotiana tabacum, higher fatty acids, metabolism, affecting factors