Producing more oil in plants

Vegetable oils (triacylglycerols) are potential substitutes for crude oil in the manufacture of many desirable molecules that form the basis of our petrochemical industry. Among the key limitations for the wider application of vegetable oils are unarguably cost and volume of production. Many researchers are therefore interested in boosting the yield of conventional oilseed crops as well as investigating less conventional means to deliver yield improvements, such as engineering plants to produce oil in their leaves and stems. In this talk I will describe our recent work on increasing oil content in both oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) seeds and vegetative tissues of Arabidopsis thaliana via modification of the metabolic pathways for oil synthesis and breakdown. I will also briefly discuss what I believe the prospects and limitation are for these types of approaches in delivering yield improvements in the field.