 Plants and algae produce triacylglycerols, tags, as a form of energy storage. These tags consist of three fatty acids bound to a glycerol backbone and are a major source of nutrition and nutraceuticals. There are two main pathways for their production, an acyl-CoA-dependent pathway and an acyl-CoA-independent pathway. Both pathways involve the conversion of carbohydrates into fatty acids, which are then combined with other fatty acids to create tags. Additionally, algae contain high levels of very long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, VLC, pufas. Genetically engineered plants can now be used to increase the amount of VLC pufa in oil seeds by introducing genes from algae. This article was authored by Alexandro Colliery, Rogerio Margus, Felipe dos Santos-Mariscan and others.