“From Burning Bushes to Chocolate Vines: Using Sequence Diversity to Explore MBOAT Substrate Specificity and Increase Production of Low Viscosity Oil” will be presented by Timothy Durrett, assistant professor, Dept. of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Kansas State University.

My laboratory uses biochemical and genomic approaches to better understand the synthesis of triacylglycerols in seeds. In particular, we are characterizing a novel acyltransferase named EaDAcT (Euonymus alatus diacylglycerol acetyltransferase) that is responsible for the synthesis of an unusual, reduced viscosity oil found in the seeds of various plants. The unusual substrate specificity of EaDAcT makes it a useful model to understand the relationship between structure and enzyme function within the larger family of membrane bound acyltransferases, many of which are involved in lipid metabolism. We are also expressing EaDAcT in oil crops in order to produce seed oil with physical and chemical properties useful for different industrial and biofuel applications.