Abstract: The oil bodies are important subcellular storage organelles at the centre of lipid and energy homeostasis in plant. They have a unique architecture consisting of a hydrophobic core of neutral lipids, which is enclosed by a phospholipid monolayer that is decorated by a specific set of proteins. These proteins fall in two main classes based on their biosynthesis sites and transportation mode. Oil bodies emerge from the endoplasmic reticulum. Its formation is closely related to the synthesis of neutral lipids, whose assembly involves multiple steps such as neutral lipid synthesis and lens formation, oil body primarily biosynthesis, oil body budding, growth and maturation. The oil body plays important roles in lipid reserve, signal transduction, developmental regulation and stress response. In this review, this paper summarizes recent research progress in the structure, composition, biological synthesis of the oil body as well as biological function of the oil body in different plant tissues. Deficiencies in the research and some scientific problems to be solved in the aspects of plant oil body are also discussed, which would provide a reference for future research of oil bodies.

Key words: Oil Body, Oil Body Architecture, Biological Synthesis, Biological Function