The production of wax esters in transgenic plants: towards a sustainable source of bio-lubricants
- Author(s)
- Frédéric Domergue, Magdalena Miklaszewska
- Abstract
Wax esters are high-value compounds used as feedstocks for the production of lubricants, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics. Currently, they are produced mostly from fossil reserves using chemical synthesis, but this cannot meet increasing demand and has a negative environmental impact. Natural wax esters are also obtained from Simmondsia chinensis (jojoba) but comparably in very low amounts and expensively. Therefore, metabolic engineering of plants, especially of the seed storage lipid metabolism of oil crops, represents an attractive strategy for renewable, sustainable, and environmentally friendly production of wax esters tailored to industrial applications. Utilization of wax ester-synthesizing enzymes with defined specificities and modulation of the acyl-CoA pools by various genetic engineering approaches can lead to obtaining wax esters with desired compositions and properties. However, obtaining high amounts of wax esters is still challenging due to their negative impact on seed germination and yield. In this review, we describe recent progress in establishing non-food-plant platforms for wax ester production and discuss their advantages and limitations as well as future prospects.
- Organisation(s)
- Functional and Evolutionary Ecology
- External organisation(s)
- Université Bordeaux, University of Gdańsk
- Journal
- Journal of Experimental Botany
- Volume
- 73
- Pages
- 2817-2834
- No. of pages
- 18
- ISSN
- 0022-0957
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erac046
- Publication date
- 05-2022
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 106031 Plant physiology, 106002 Biochemistry, 404001 Agricultural biotechnology
- Keywords
- ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Physiology, Plant Science
- Sustainable Development Goals
- SDG 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy
- Portal url
- https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/en/publications/the-production-of-wax-esters-in-transgenic-plants-towards-a-sustainable-source-of-biolubricants(49340e1d-515d-410f-a731-4ecbea74f94f).html