Production of C20 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) by pathway engineering: identification of a PUFA elongase component from Caenorhabditis elegans.
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.
Beaudoin
F
F
IACR-Long Ashton Research Station, Long Ashton, Bristol BS41 9AF, UK.
Michaelson
L V
LV
Lewis
M J
MJ
Shewry
P R
PR
Sayanova
O
O
Napier
J A
JA
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
D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated; D017965:gamma-Linolenic Acid; D044943:Fatty Acid Desaturases; D000123:Acetyltransferases; D000081031:Fatty Acid Elongases