Biotin carboxyl carrier protein isoforms in Brassicaceae oilseeds

De novo fatty acid biosynthesis occurs predominantly in plastids. The committed step for this pathway is the production of malonyl-CoA catalysed by acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACCase). In most plants, plastidial ACCase is a multisubunit complex minimally comprised of four polypeptides, which catalyse two reactions. In the simple oilseed plant, Arabidopsis thaliana two cDNAs encoding biotin carboxyl carrier protein (BCCP) isoforms have been identified. The remaining three subunits of ACCase appear to be single gene members in A. thaliana [Mekhedov, Martinez de Ilarduya and Ohlrogge (2000) Plant Physiol. 122, 389–401]. Transcript and protein analyses indicate that BCCP isoform 1 is constitutively expressed while isoform 2 is predominantly expressed in developing seeds. The apparent masses of constitutive and seed-enriched BCCP isoforms agree with the apparent masses of recombinantly expressed isoforms 1 and 2, respectively. In a related oilseed, Brassica napus multiple putative BCCP polypeptides were also observed in developing seeds. The presence of a divergent class of BCCP genes in A. thaliana and B. napus coincident with appropriately sized biotin-containing proteins expressed specifically in developing seeds, suggests that these BCCPs play an evolutionarily conserved role in oil deposition.