Quantitative proteomic and lipidomics analyses of high oil content GmDGAT1-2 transgenic soybean illustrate the regulatory mechanism of lipoxygenase and oleosin

Key message Proteomic and lipidomics analyses of WT and GmDGAT1-2 transgenic soybeans showed that GmDGAT1-2 over-expression induced lipoxygenase down-regulatation and oleoin up-regulatation, which significantly changed the compositions and total fatty acid. Abstract The main goal of soybean breeding is to increase the oil content. Diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT) is a key rate-limiting enzyme in fatty acid metabolism and may regulate oil content. Herein, 10 GmDGAT genes were isolated from soybean and transferred into wild-type (WT) Arabidopsis. The total fatty acid was 1.2 times higher in T3 GmDGAT1-2 transgenic Arabidopsis seeds than in WT. Therefore, GmDGAT1-2 was transferred into WT soybean (JACK), and four T3 transgenic soybean lines were obtained. The results of high-performance gas chromatography and Soxhlet extractor showed that, compared with those of JACK, oleic acid (18:1), and total fatty acid levels in transgenic soybean plants were much higher, but linoleic acid (18:2) was lower than WT. Palmitic acid (16:0), stearic acid (18:0), and linolenic acid (18:3) were not significantly different. For mechanistic studies, 436 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) and 180 differentially expressed metabolites (DEMs) were identified between WT (JACK) and transgenic soybean pods using proteomic and lipidomics analyses. Four lipoxygenase proteins were down-regulated in linoleic acid metabolism while four oleosin proteins were up-regulated in the final oil formation. The results showed an increase in the total fatty acid and 18:1 composition, and a decrease in the 18:2 composition of fatty acid. Our study brings new insights into soybean genetic transformation and the deep study of molecular mechanism that changes the total fatty acid, 18:1, and 18:2 compositions in GmDGAT1-2 transgenic soybean.