Phytosterols are valuable biomolecules used as nutrients and as feedstock material for the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. The innovative and fundamental challenge biologists and breeders are faced with is to develop cell technology engineering programs and valuable crops dedicated to the large scale production of phytosterols, which are currently extracted from agricultural waste materials. The goal of the proposal is to identify master regulators of phytosterol biosynthesis and accumulation in genetic models. In fact, phytosterols have essential cellular functions in plant growth and development, acting as key membrane components and membrane reinforcers, as signals in development, and as precursors of brassinosteroids, a class of growth regulators. As such, the concentration of phytosterols and the equilibrium between free sterols and conjugated sterols is highly regulated in order to comply with cellular homeostasis. The goal of the HiPhy project was to identify key players of phytosterol biosynthesis and accumulation in the genetic models thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana) and tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum).