A Transcriptomic and Lipidomic Analysis of Hydroxy Fatty Acid Synthesis in Paysonia auriculata (Brassicaceae)

Plant seeds synthesize and store fatty acids in seeds as a high energy store to be utilized for germination and early plant development.  There are a few plants that synthesize hydroxy fatty acids, and these are desirable industrial feedstocks. Our study plant, Paysonia auriculata, is one of these, and is closely related to the emerging oil seed crop Physaria fendleri. We are comparing the genetic regulation of hydroxy fatty acid synthesis in Paysonia auriculata with that in other plants that produce hydroxy fatty acids, such as Ricinus communis and Physaria fendleri as well as Arabidopsis thaliana, which does not produce hydroxy fatty acids. We have analyzed Paysonia auriculata seeds at different developmental stages by transcriptomic and mass spectrometry lipid techniques to answer whether and to what extent the genetic regulation of fatty acid synthesis is conserved in Paysonia, Arabidopsis, Ricinus and Camelina as well as the evolutionary relationships of the hydroxylases in Paysonia.  We find extensive conservation as well as unusual patterns of hydroxy fatty acid distribution, which we are investigating further.