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OIL EVOLUTION

Tweaking enzymes for exotic plant oils

Nature Plants volume 4, pages 633–634 (2018)Cite this article

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Plants are amazing chemical factories. Within the plant kingdom, more than 450 distinct fatty acid structures have been described. Two new C24 dihydroxy fatty acids have now been discovered that are synthesized by an unprecedented biosynthetic route termed ‘discontinuous elongation’.

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Fig. 1: Divergent versions of housekeeping enzymes in fatty acid synthesis and modification produce a multitude of unusual fatty acids occurring in high amounts in seed oils.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant Breeding, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Alnarp, Sweden

    Sten Stymne

  2. Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA

    John Ohlrogge

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  1. Sten Stymne
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  2. John Ohlrogge
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Correspondence to Sten Stymne or John Ohlrogge.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Stymne, S., Ohlrogge, J. Tweaking enzymes for exotic plant oils. Nature Plants 4, 633–634 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-018-0233-7

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