Grant: Canada Research Chairs

There is an increasing global demand for vegetable oils as a source of dietary lipids, renewable biomaterials, and biofuels. Oilseeds, including canola, are a cornerstone of the Canadian agricultural industry. Increasing seed oil production is necessary to fulfill demand and will provide economic benefit to Canada. Rather than increase planted area, it is more sustainable and cost-effective to improve seed oil yield to increase seed oil production. Moreover, designer seed oils customized for specific markets would result in added value and diversification opportunities for oilseed producers. Vegetable oil is mainly composed of triacylglycerol. The nutritional and industrial usefulness of seed oil resides in the fatty acid composition of vegetable oil and the arrangement of fatty acids within triacylglycerol (i.e., the locations of the fatty acids at the three positions on the glycerol backbone). Metabolic engineering of seed oil formation provides an enormous opportunity to increase seed oil yield and quality and generate designer oils for both food and non-food applications. However, efforts to achieve these goals are limited by inadequate knowledge of seed oil formation and a lack of rationally designed biotechnology strategies. Dr. Chen is interested in addressing these limitations with plant lipid biotechnology. His proposed research program consists of three integrated areas of investigation: (i) biochemical and genetic regulation of lipid biosynthesis and metabolism, (ii) production of value-added oils in crops via biotechnology, and (iii) development of oilseed crops with improved agronomic characteristics via biotechnology. The outcomes of his research will enhance our understanding of vegetable oil formation and develop novel genetic engineering strategies for increasing seed oil quality and yield, producing value-added specialty oils, and improving oilseed crop yield.