title: In vitro effects of sterculic acid on lipid biosynthesis in Rhodococcus opacus strain PD630 and isolation of mutants defective in fatty acid desaturation.
abstract: The in vivo effects of sterculic acid methyl ester on triacylglycerol fatty acid composition in the oleaginous, hydrocarbon-degrading bacterium R. opacus strain PD630 was investigated. Sterculic acid, a cyclopropene fatty acid and an inhibitor of the stearoyl-CoA desaturase system, strongly inhibited the synthesis of monoenic fatty acids, of saturated fatty acids with more than 16 carbon atoms and of odd-numbered fatty acids when added to the culture medium. In addition, chemical mutagenesis and the application of the penicillin enrichment technique provided mutants, which were more or less completely impaired in the desaturation of long-chain fatty acids and exhibited in some cases a similar fatty acid composition like the wild-type in the presence of sterculic acid methyl ester. The implications of these findings for fatty acid metabolism in R. opacus strain PD630 are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Mikrobiologie der Westfälischen Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Germany.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wältermann
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Steinbüchel
mesh_terms: D002855:Chromatography, Thin Layer; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D044943:Fatty Acid Desaturases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism; D005229:Fatty Acids, Monounsaturated / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D008055:Lipids / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D008769:Methylnitronitrosoguanidine / Q000494:pharmacology; D009154:Mutation; D012240:Rhodococcus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D013230:Stearoyl-CoA Desaturase
chemical_list: D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D005229:Fatty Acids, Monounsaturated; D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated; D008055:Lipids; D008769:Methylnitronitrosoguanidine; C023396:methyl sterculate; D044943:Fatty Acid Desaturases; D013230:Stearoyl-CoA Desaturase; C029627:delta-9 fatty acid desaturase