The production of wax esters in transgenic plants: towards a sustainable source of bio-lubricants.
Language
EN
Article de revue
This item was published in
Journal of Experimental Botany. 2022-05-13, vol. 73, n° 9, p. 2817-2834
English Abstract
Wax esters are high-value compounds used as feedstocks for the production of lubricants, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics. Currently, they are produced mostly from fossil reserves using chemical synthesis, but this cannot ...Read more >
Wax esters are high-value compounds used as feedstocks for the production of lubricants, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics. Currently, they are produced mostly from fossil reserves using chemical synthesis, but this cannot meet increasing demand and has a negative environmental impact. Natural wax esters are also obtained from Simmondsia chinensis (jojoba) but comparably in very low amounts and expensively. Therefore, metabolic engineering of plants, especially of the seed storage lipid metabolism of oil crops, represents an attractive strategy for renewable, sustainable, and environmentally friendly production of wax esters tailored to industrial applications. Utilization of wax ester-synthesizing enzymes with defined specificities and modulation of the acyl-CoA pools by various genetic engineering approaches can lead to obtaining wax esters with desired compositions and properties. However, obtaining high amounts of wax esters is still challenging due to their negative impact on seed germination and yield. In this review, we describe recent progress in establishing non-food-plant platforms for wax ester production and discuss their advantages and limitations as well as future prospects.Read less <
English Keywords
Esters
Lubricants
Metabolic Engineering
Plants
Genetically Modified
Waxes
Fatty acyl reductase
Green factory
Oilseed crops
Plant metabolic engineering
Wax esters
Wax synthase