title: Production of C20 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) by pathway engineering: identification of a PUFA elongase component from Caenorhabditis elegans.
abstract: Using a combination of database-mining and functional characterization, we have identified a component of the polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) elongase. Co-expression of this elongating activity with fatty acid desaturases has allowed us to heterologously reconstitute the PUFA biosynthetic pathway. Both these enzymes (desaturases and elongase components) have undergone gene-duplication events which provide a paradigm for the diverged nature of PUFA biosynthetic activities.
authors.affiliation: IACR-Long Ashton Research Station, Long Ashton, Bristol BS41 9AF, UK.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Beaudoin
authors.forename: L V
authors.initials: LV
authors.lastname: Michaelson
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Lewis
authors.forename: P R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Shewry
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Sayanova
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Napier
mesh_terms: D000123:Acetyltransferases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D044943:Fatty Acid Desaturases / Q000378:metabolism*; D000081031:Fatty Acid Elongases; D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D005818:Genetic Engineering; D016678:Genome; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013379:Substrate Specificity; D017965:gamma-Linolenic Acid / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated; D017965:gamma-Linolenic Acid; D044943:Fatty Acid Desaturases; D000123:Acetyltransferases; D000081031:Fatty Acid Elongases