Reflax

The substitution of the synthetic bases of fossil origin used in the lubricant by environment-respecting compounds has become a central question. In such respect, it has been recently shown that one of the many of unusual fatty acids that are known to occur in nature, namely the branched-chain fatty acids, BcFAs, could advantageously replace these synthetic bases. Contrasting to other vegetable oils used as lubricant bases, BcFA-containg oil has both excellent oxidative resistance and thermal stability, thereby making them potent substitutes for high-temperature applications such as motor lubricants. Coupled with the improvements in plant transformation, the increasing needs for cost-effective bioproduction of unusual fatty acids has made oilseeds ideal production systems. The project REFLAX (for Rational Engineering of FLAX) aims at the integration of metabolic, physiological, molecular biological, genetical, structural biological, proteomics and bioinformatics studies to provide a basis for the rational engineering of oilseeds – rapeseed but more specifically flax – towards the production of BcFAs. REFLAX is a feasibility program consisting is an innovative strategy for modulating the spectrum of fatty acids by enlarging the spectrum of de novo precursors.