Nonspecific phospholipase C6 increases seed oil production in oilseed Brassicaceae plants

<ul> <li class="line" id="line-15"> Plant oils are valuable commodities for food, feed, renewable industrial feedstocks and biofuels. To increase vegetable oil production, here we show that the nonspecific phospholipase C6 (NPC6) promotes seed oil production in the Brassicaceae seed oil species Arabidopsis, Camelina and oilseed rape. </li> <li class="line" id="line-39"> Overexpression of&nbsp; <i> NPC6&nbsp; </i> increased seed oil content, seed weight and oil yield both in Arabidopsis and Camelina, whereas knockout of&nbsp; <i> NPC6&nbsp; </i> decreased seed oil content and seed size. NPC6 is associated with the chloroplasts and microsomal membranes, and hydrolyzes phosphatidylcholine and galactolipids to produce diacylglycerol. Knockout and overexpression of NPC6 decreased and increased, respectively, the flux of fatty acids from phospholipids and galactolipids into triacylglycerol production. </li> <li class="line" id="line-55"> Candidate&hyphen;gene association study in oilseed rape indicates that only&nbsp; <i> BnNPC6.C01&nbsp; </i> of the four homeologues&nbsp; <i> NPC6s&nbsp; </i> is associated with seed oil content and yield. Haplotypic analysis indicates that the&nbsp; <i> BnNPC6.C01&nbsp; </i> favorable haplotype can increase both seed oil content and seed yield. </li></ul><div class="line" id="line-84"> These results indicate that NPC6 promotes membrane glycerolipid turnover to accumulate TAG production in oil seeds and that&nbsp; <i> NPC6&nbsp; </i> has a great application potential for oil yield improvement.</div>