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Advances in Oil Regulation in Seeds and Vegetative Tissues
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Advances in Oil Regulation in Seeds and Vegetative Tissues

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Molecular Biology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 January 2026 | Viewed by 1554

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Zhi Zou

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Guest Editor
Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Danzhou, China
Interests: crop genetics; plant physiology; molecular biology
Prof. Dr. Xiangdong Yang

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Guest Editor
Biotechnology Research Center, Jilin Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changchun, China
Interests: soybean; biotechnology; breeding

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Oils in the form of triacylglycerols (TAGs) represent the most energy-dense reserves, which are abundant in seeds of oil crops (e.g., rapeseed (Brassica napus), soybean (Glycine max), and peanut (Arachis hypogaea)) and other plant organs such as fruits (e.g., oil palm (Elaeis guineensis), olive (Olea europaea), and avocado (Persea americana)) and tubers (e.g., tigernut (Cyperus esculentus). They could not only provide the major carbon and energy source for seed germination and seedling development, but also serve as a major source of calories for human nutrition and feedstocks for biodiesel and industrial chemicals. TAG biosynthesis has been well studied in oilseeds especially by using Arabidopsis thaliana as a model plant, which includes three main steps, i.e., fatty acid (FA) biosynthesis in the plastid, TAG assembly in the cytosol as well as lipid droplet (LD) encapsulation. Extensive studies have also uncovered an intricate regulatory network involving many transcription factors that coordinately controls seed oil accumulation, e.g., LEAFY COTYLEDON 1 (LEC1), LEC1-LIKE (L1L), LEAFY COTYLEDON 2 (LEC2), ABSCISIC ACID-INSENSITIVE3 (ABI3), FUSCA3 (FUS3), and WRINKLED 1 (WRI1). By contrast, the mechanisms of high oil accumulation in vegetative tissues are largely unknown, though they may provide alternative resources for increasing overall plant oil production. This topic hopes to contribute to recent advances in oil regulation in seeds as well as vegetative tissues.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Omics
  • Gene editing
  • Gene cloning and mapping
  • Breeding methods
  • Plant genetics related to breeding
  • Qualitative and quantitative traits
  • Bioinformatics
  • Functional genomics
  • Breeding and biotechnology
  • Marker-aided breeding
  • Molecular evolution

Prof. Dr. Zhi Zou
Prof. Dr. Xiangdong Yang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Plants is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • oil crops
  • seed
  • vegetative tissue
  • oil regulation
  • fatty acid biosynthesis
  • triacylglycerol assembly
  • lipid droplet formation
  • transcription factor

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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22 pages, 3897 KiB  
Article
Integrative Identification of Chloroplast Metabolism-Related RETICULATA-RELATED Genes in Soybean
by Qianli Dong, Lu Niu, Xiyu Gong, Qianlong Xing, Jie Liang, Jun Lang, Tianya Wang and Xiangdong Yang
Plants 2025, 14(10), 1516; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14101516 - 19 May 2025
Viewed by 390
Abstract
As a globally important leguminous crop, soybean (Glycine max L.) serves as a vital source of edible oils and proteins for humans and livestock. Oils in leaves can help crops combat fungal infections, adapt to temperature changes via fatty acid modulation, and [...] Read more.
As a globally important leguminous crop, soybean (Glycine max L.) serves as a vital source of edible oils and proteins for humans and livestock. Oils in leaves can help crops combat fungal infections, adapt to temperature changes via fatty acid modulation, and support resource recycling during leaf senescence. However, accumulating oils in leaves is a fundamental challenge due to the need to balance the inherently competing photosynthesis and fatty acid biosynthesis processes within chloroplasts. RETICULATA-RELATED (RER), known to regulate chloroplast function and plastid metabolism in Arabidopsis, plays an essential role in leaf development. Here, 14 non-redundant GmRER genes were identified in soybean and phylogenetically classified into four subclades. Most Arabidopsis RER genes were evolutionarily preserved as gene duplicates in soybean, except for GmRER5 and GmRER6. RNA secondary structures spanning the coding sequences (CDSs), the 5′- and 3′- untranslated regions (UTRs) of GmRERs, displayed exceptional structural plasticity in CDSs, while exhibiting limited conservation in UTRs. In contrast, protein structures retained conserved folds, underscoring evolutionary constraints on functional domains despite transcriptional plasticity. Notably, GmRER4a and GmRER4b represented an exceptional case of high similarity in both protein and RNA structures. Expression profiling across fourteen tissues and three abiotic stress conditions revealed a dynamic shift in expression levels between leaf-predominant and root-enriched GmRER paralogs after stress treatments. A comparative transcriptome analysis of six soybean landraces further revealed transcriptional polymorphism in the GmRER family, which was associated with the expression patterns of lipid biosynthesis regulators. Our comprehensive characterization of GmRERs may offer potential targets for soybean breeding optimization in overall plant oil production. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Oil Regulation in Seeds and Vegetative Tissues)
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15 pages, 5903 KiB  
Article
Insights into the Stearoyl-Acyl Carrier Protein Desaturase (SAD) Family in Tigernut (Cyperus esculentus L.), an Oil-Bearing Tuber Plant
by Zhi Zou, Xiaowen Fu, Chunqiang Li, Xiaoping Yi, Jiaquan Huang and Yongguo Zhao
Plants 2025, 14(4), 584; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14040584 - 14 Feb 2025
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 746
Abstract
Plant oils rich in oleic acid (OA) are attracting considerable attention for their high nutritional value and significant industrial potential. Stearoyl-acyl carrier protein desaturases (SADs) are a class of soluble desaturases that play a key role in OA accumulation in plants. In this [...] Read more.
Plant oils rich in oleic acid (OA) are attracting considerable attention for their high nutritional value and significant industrial potential. Stearoyl-acyl carrier protein desaturases (SADs) are a class of soluble desaturases that play a key role in OA accumulation in plants. In this study, the first genome-wide characterization of the SAD gene family was conducted in tigernut (Cyperus esculentus L. var. sativus Baeck., Cyperaceae), an oil-rich tuber plant typical for its high OA content. Six SAD genes identified from the tigernut genome are comparative to seven reported in two model plants Arabidopsis thaliana and Oryza sativa, but relatively more than four were found in most Cyperaceae species examined in this study. A comparison of 161 SAD genes from 29 representative plant species reveals the monogenic origin and lineage-specific family evolution in Poales. C. esculentus SAD genes (CeSADs) were shown to constitute two evolutionary groups (i.e., FAB2 and AAD) and four out of 12 orthogroups identified in this study, i.e., FAB2a, FAB2b, FAB2c, and AAD1. Whereas FAB2a and AAD1 are widely distributed, FAB2b and FAB2c are specific to Cyperaceae, which may arise from FAB2a via tandem and dispersed duplications, respectively. Though FAB2d and AAD2 are also broadly present in monocots, they are more likely to be lost in the Cyperaceae ancestor sometime after the split with its close family, Juncaceae. In tigernut, FAB2a appears to have undergone species-specific expansion via tandem duplication. Frequent structural variation and apparent expression divergence were also observed. Though FAB2a and AAD1 usually feature two and one intron, respectively, gain of certain introns was observed in CeSAD genes, all of which have three introns. Despite recent expansion of the FAB2 group, CeFAB2-1 has evolved into the dominant member that was highly and constitutively expressed in all tested organs. Moreover, CeFAB2-1, CeAAD1, as well as CeFAB2-5 have evolved to be predominantly expressed in tubers and thus contribute to high OA accumulation. These findings highlight lineage-specific evolution of the SAD family and putative roles of CeSAD genes in tuber oil accumulation, which facilitate further functional analysis and genetic improvement in tigernut and other species. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Oil Regulation in Seeds and Vegetative Tissues)
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