Oat (Avena sativa L.) is famously known for its high oil content as compared to other cereal grains, such as barley and wheat. It also has a unique nutritional profile with high β-glucan fiber, low gluten, high protein and avenanthramides, which have been shown to provide a range of health benefits. Hence, there is a high marketing appeal for oats to be made into nutrient-enriched products. However, the high oil content of oats contributes to the formation of clumps during milling and fractionation processes, which renders oat processing very inefficient due to clogging of machinery. Therefore, there is interest from research and industry in the breeding of low-oil oats to overcome this processing barrier. To achieve this, greater depth of knowledge on the regulation of oil synthesis in oats is essential.
We optimised a proteomics approach to investigate differences in the regulation of oil synthesis in a large cohort of genotypically and phenotypically diverse oat lines (90 cultivars). LC-MS/MS analyses were performed on the SCIEX ZenoTOF 7600 system. Proteomics data were processed using Spectronaut™.
We identified a strong, positive correlation between acetyl-CoA carboxylase abundance and oat oil content, highlighting its role as a potential breeding target to modulate oat oil content. Further interrogation of low- and high-oil oat proteomes revealed an inverse relationship between fatty acid and protein synthesis. Significant negative correlations were observed between oil and protein content. Therefore, reducing oil content may improve both processing and nutritional qualities of oats.