XVI International Botanical Congess

Acyl-(acyl-carrier-protein):glycerol-3-phosphate acyl-transferase (GPAT, EC 2.3.1.15) regulates the flux of fatty acids into glycerolipids in plastids. Recently, we have obtained biochemical evidence for the presence of GPAT isozymes in squash cotyledons (Nishida, in preparation). A question addressed is how GPAT isozymes are regulated in different squash organs/tissues. To answer this question, we cloned full-length cDNAs for precursors to squash GPAT isozymes. RNA blot analysis showed that accumulation levels of mRNAs for GPAT isozymes were differentially regulated during the development of both photosynthetic and non-photosynthetic organs.