Using systems metabolic engineering strategies for high-oil maize breeding.

Abstract

Maize oil, which is a blend of fatty acid esters generated from triacylglycerol (TAG), is an important component of maize-derived food, feed, and biofuel. The kernel oil content in commercial high-oil maize hybrids averages ∼8%, which is far lower than that in developed high-oil maize lines (as high as 20%). Advances in high-oil maize genomics and genetics and the development of systems metabolic engineering technologies provide new opportunities for high-oil maize breeding. In this review, we discuss the possibility of using kernels and vegetative tissues as factories to produce TAG, eicosapentaenoic acid, and docosahexaenoic acid. We further propose specific implementation strategies based on the metabolic engineering of other species to develop transgenic and gene-editing products, as well as traditional breeding strategies, for application in high-oil maize breeding programs.