Overexpression of Cuphea viscosissima CvFatB4 enhances 16:0 fatty acid accumulation in Arabidopsis

Cuphea viscosissima plants accumulate medium- chain fatty acids (MCFAs), i.e., those containing 8 ~ 14 carbons, in their seeds, in addition to the longer carbon chain fatty acids (≥16 carbons) found in a variety of plant species. Previous studies have reported the existence of three C. viscosissima MCFA-producing acyl-acyl carrier protein (ACP) thioesterases with different substrate specificities. In this study, CvFatB4, a novel cDNA clone encoding an acyl- ACP thioesterase (EC 3.1.2.14), was isolated from developing C. viscosissima seeds. Sequence alignment of the deduced amino acid sequence revealed that four catalytic residues for thioesterase activity are conserved and a putative N-terminal chloroplast transit peptide is present. Overexpression of CvFatB4 cDNA, which was under the control of the cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter, in Arabidopsis thaliana led to an increase in 16:0 fatty acid (palmitate) levels in the seed oil at the expense of 18:1 and other non-MCFAs.