"Erucic" colza: scientific problems and prospects.

The principal steps of the pathway leading to the biosynthesis of erucic ac id and its incorporation into triacylglycerol are relatively well described . This article describes the recent progress made towards identifying the g enes coding for the enzymes of the acyl-CoA elongase complex controlling th e synthesis of Very long Chain Fatty Acids in rapeseed. The second part of this review concerns the search for genes coding for the acyltransferases t hat are required for the insertion of the fatty acid into position 2 of the glycerol moiety. Although several genes coding for lysophosphatidic acid a cyltransferase (LPAAT) have been isolated from different species, in the ca se of rapeseed only two genes have been identified. One of these genes code s for an enzyme controlling the production of glycerolipids used for the bi osynthesis of glycolipids of the plastid membranes.