Credit: Brookhaven National Laboratory
When a plant is low on sugar, a cascade of molecular interactions degrades a protein called WRINKLED1 that turns on fatty acid synthesis. However, when sugar levels are high, key steps in this process are blocked, leaving the WRINKLED1 protein intact to start fatty acid (oil) production. KEY: K = KIN10, G = GRIK1, P = phosphoryl group, DEG = degradation, W = WRINKLED1, FAS = fatty acid synthesis, and T6P = trehalose 6-phosphate. Faded molecules and pathways are less active than those shown in bold colors.