Research Publications
This page contains some recent or noteworthy publications relating to each of Phytola’s key research areas. This is not a comprehensive listing. For more information, please contact us.
Canola Improvement • DGAT structure/function • Specialty Oil Development • Technology Development
Weselake RJ, Shah S, Tang M, Quant PA, Snyder CL, Furukawa-Stoffer TL, Zhu W, Taylor DC, Zou J, Kumar A, Hall L, Laroche A, Rakow G, Raney P, Moloney MM, Harwood JL (2008) Metabolic control analysis is helpful for informed genetic manipulation of oilseed rape (Brassica napus) to increase seed oil content. Journal of Experimental Botany 59, 3543-3549. Open Access
Taylor DC, Zhang Y, Kumar A, Francis T, Giblin EM, Barton DL, Ferrie JR, Laroche A, Shah S, Zhu W, Snyder CL, Hall L, Rakow G, Harwood JL, Weselake RJ (2009) Molecular modification of triacylglycerol accumulation by over-expression of DGAT1 to produce canola with increased seed oil content under field conditions. Botany 87, 533-543 Open Access
Weselake RJ, Taylor DC, Rahman H, Shah S, Laroche A, McVetty PBE, Harwood JL (2009) Increasing the flow of carbon into seed oil. Biotechnology Advances 27, 866-878
Mietkiewska E, Siloto R, Dewald J, Shah S, Brindley DN, Weselake RJ. (2011) Lipins from plants are phosphatidate phosphatases that restore lipid synthesis in a pah1Δ mutant strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. FEBS Journal 278, 765-775
Peng FY and Weselake RJ. (2011) Gene coexpression clusters and putative regulatory elements underlying seed storage reserve accumulation in Arabidopsis. BMC Genomics 12, 286 Open Access
Chen G, Deng W, Truksa M, Peng FY, Weselake RJ (2012) The Bsister MADS-Box proteins have multiple regulatory functions in plant development Biocatalysis and Agricultural Biotechnology 1, 203-206
Deng W, Chen G, Peng F, Truksa M, Snyder CL, Weselake RJ (2012) Transparent testa 16 plays multiple roles in plant development and is involved in lipid synthesis and embryo development in Brassica napus. Plant Physiology 160, 978-989 Open Access
Peng FY, Weselake RJ (2013) Genome-wide identification and analysis of the B3 superfamily of transcription factors in Brassicaceae and major crop plants. Theoretical and Applied Genetics; published online, February 2; DOI 10.1007/s00122-013-2054-4
Chen G, Deng W, Peng F, Truksa M, Singer S, Snyder CL, Mietkiewska E, Weselake RJ (2013) Brassica napus TT16 homologs with different genomic origins and expression levels encode proteins that regulate a broad range of endothelium-associated genes at the transcriptional level. The Plant Journal; published online, March 14; DOI: 10.1111/tpj.12151
Siloto RMP, Madhavji M, Wiehler WB, Burton TL, Boora PS, Laroche A, Weselake RJ (2008) An N-terminal fragment of mouse DGAT1 binds different acyl-CoAs with varying affinity. Biochemical Biophysical Research Communications 373, 350-354
Liu Q, Siloto RMP, Weselake RJ (2010) Role of cysteine residues in thiol modification of acyl- CoA:diacylglycerol acyltransferase 2 from yeast. Biochemistry 49, 3237-3245
Siloto RMP, Liu Q, Weselake RJ, He X, McKeon T (2010) Insights into the structure and function of acyl-CoA:Diacylglycerol acyltransferase. In: Biocatalysis and Biomolecular Engineering (eds. C Hou and J Shaw), John Wiley and Sons, Inc. Hoboken, NJ; pp 3-30, Invited
Liu Q, Siloto R, Snyder C, Weselake RJ. (2011) Functional and topological analysis of yeast acyl- CoA:diacylglycerol acyltransferase 2, an endoplasmic reticulum enzyme essential for triacylglycerol biosynthesis. Journal of Biological Chemistry 286, 13115-13126 Open Access
Liu Q, Siloto RM, Lehner R, Stone SJ, Weselake RJ (2012) Acyl-CoA:diacyglycerol acyltransferase: Molecular biology, biochemistry and biotechnology. Progress in Lipid Research 51, 350-377
Specialty Oil Development (Bioactive or Industrial Oils)
Yurchenko OP, Nykiforuk CL, Moloney MM, Stahl U, Banas A, Styme S, Weselake RJ (2009). A 10 kDa acyl-CoA binding protein (ACBP) from Brassica napus enhances acyl exchange between acyl-CoA and phosphatidylcholine Plant Biotechnology Journal 7, 602-610
Snyder CL, Yurchenko OP, Siloto RMP, Chen X, Liu Q, Mietkiewska E, Weselake RJ (2009) Acyltransferase action in the modification of seed oil biosynthesis. New Biotechnology 26, 11-16; Invited
Yurchenko OP, Weselake RJ. (2010) Involvement of low molecular mass soluble acyl-CoA binding protein in seed oil biosynthesis. New Biotechnology 28, 97-109; Invited
Chen X, Truksa M, Snyder C, El-Mezawy A, Shah S, Weselake RJ. (2011) Three homologous genes encoding sn-glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase 4 exhibit different expression patterns and functional divergence in Brassica napus. Plant Physiology 155, 851-65 Open Access
Weselake RJ (2011) Genetic engineering approaches for trait development in Brassica oilseed species. In: Canola: Description, Variety Development, Agronomy, Composition, and Utilization; (eds JK Daun, D Hickling, NAM Eskin) AOCS Press, Urbana, IL, pp 57-91; Invited
Chen G, Snyder CL, Greer MS, Weselake RJ (2011) Biology and Biochemistry of Plant Phospholipases. Critical Reviews in Plant Science 30, 239-258; Invited
Taylor DC, Smith M, Fobert P, Mietkiewska E, Weselake RJ (2011) Metabolic engineering of higher plants to produce bio-industrial oils. In: Comprehensive Biotechnology 2nd Edition, Vol 4 (ed M Moo-Young) Elsevier pp 67-85; DOI: 10.101016/B978-0-08-088504-9.00256-7; Invited
Chen G, Greer MS, Lager I, Yilmaz JL, Mietkiewska E, Carlsson AS, Stymne S, Weselake RJ (2012). Identification and characterization of an LCAT-like Arabidopsis thaliana gene encoding a novel phospholipase A. FEBS Letters 586, 373-377 Open Access
Wang L, Shen W, Kazachkov M, Chen G, Chen Q, Carlsson AS, Stymne S, Weselake RJ, Zou J (2012) Metabolic interactions between the Lands Cycle and the Kennedy Pathway of glycerolipid synthesis in Arabidopsis developing seeds. The Plant Cell; published online, November 13; DOI 10.1105/tpc.112.104604
Rahman H, Singer SD, Weselake RJ (2013) Development of low-linolenic acid Brassica oleracea lines through seed mutagenesis and molecular characterization of mutants. Theoretical and Applied Genetics; published online, March 10; 10.1007/s00122-013-2076-y
Pan X, Siloto RM, Wickramarathna AD, Mietkiewska E, Weselake RJ (2013) Identification of a pair of Phospholipid:Diacylglycerol Acyltransferases from developing Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) seed catalyzing the selective production of trilinolenin Journal of Biological Chemistry in press Open Access
Siloto RMP, Truksa M, Brownfield DL, Good AG, Weselake RJ (2009) Directed evolution of acyl- CoAdiacylglycerol acyltransferase-1from Brassica napus. Plant Physiology and Biochemistry 47, 456-461; Invited
Siloto RMP, Truksa M, He X, McKeon T, Weselake RJ (2009) Simple methods to detect triacylglycerol biosynthesis in a yeast-based recombinant system. Lipids 44, 963-973
Chen X, Truksa M, Shah S, Weselake RJ (2010) A survey of quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction internal reference genes for expression studies in Brassica napus. Analytical Biochemistry 405, 138-140
Siloto RMP, Weselake RJ (2010) High-throughput approaches to investigate neutral lipid biosynthesis. International Journal of High Throughput Screening 1, 29-38, Invited
Weselake RJ, Siloto RMP (2012) Site saturation mutagenesis: methods and applications in protein engineering. Biocatalysis and Agricultural Biotechnology 1, 181-189