The invention provides modified oleosins, including at least one artificially introduced
cysteine, and methods and compositions for producing the modified oleosins. Also provided are polynucleotides encoding the modified oleosins, constructs and host cells comprising the polynucleotides, methods for producing oil bodies comprising the modified oleosins,
in vivo and
in vitro, and methods for producing oil in host cells and plants. The invention also provides methods for increasing the rate of CO2 assimilation in photosynthetic cells and plants, and involves reducing or preventing lipid recycling, and / or expressing modified oleosins with artificially introduced
cysteine residues in the photosynthetic cells and plants. Also provided are methods for increasing
oil production in plants, via expression of modified oleosins in the non-photosynthetic tissues / organs of plants. The method also optionally includes the step of extracting the oil from the non-photosynthetic tissues / organs of the
plant, or
processing the oil rich non-photosynthetic tissues / organs into animal or
biofuel feedstocks.