Mining and identification of polyunsaturated fatty acid synthesis genes active during camelina seed development using 454 pyrosequencing.

Background Camelina (Camelina sativa L.) is well known for its high unsaturated fatty acid content and great resistance to environmental stress. However, little is known about the molecular mechanisms of unsaturated fatty acid biosynthesis in this annual oilseed crop. To gain greater insight into this mechanism, the transcriptome profiles of seeds at different developmental stages were analyzed by 454 pyrosequencing.