title: Functional expression of a Delta12 fatty acid desaturase gene from spinach in transgenic pigs.
abstract: Linoleic acid (18:2n-6) and alpha-linolenic acid (18:3n-3) are polyunsaturated fatty acids that are essential for mammalian nutrition, because mammals lack the desaturases required for synthesis of Delta12 (n-6) and n-3 fatty acids. Many plants can synthesize these fatty acids and, therefore, to examine the effects of a plant desaturase in mammals, we generated transgenic pigs that carried the fatty acid desaturation 2 gene for a Delta12 fatty acid desaturase from spinach. Levels of linoleic acid (18:2n-6) in adipocytes that had differentiated in vitro from cells derived from the transgenic pigs were approximately 10 times higher than those from wild-type pigs. In addition, the white adipose tissue of transgenic pigs contained approximately 20% more linoleic acid (18:2n-6) than that of wild-type pigs. These results demonstrate the functional expression of a plant gene for a fatty acid desaturase in mammals, opening up the possibility of modifying the fatty acid composition of products from domestic animals by transgenic technology, using plant genes for fatty acid desaturases.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Advanced Technology, Kinki University, Kainan, Wakayama 642-0017, Japan. saeki@gene.waka.kindai.ac.jp
authors.forename: Kazuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Saeki
authors.forename: Kazuya
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
authors.forename: Mikio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kinoshita
authors.forename: Iwane
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Yasushi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tasaka
authors.forename: Koichiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kano
authors.forename: Yoshitomo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Taguchi
authors.forename: Koji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mikami
authors.forename: Masumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hirabayashi
authors.forename: Naomi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kashiwazaki
authors.forename: Yoshihiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hosoi
authors.forename: Norio
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Murata
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Iritani
mesh_terms: D017667:Adipocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D017931:DNA Primers; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D044943:Fatty Acid Desaturases / Q000235:genetics*; D043371:Fatty Acids, Omega-6 / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism; D019787:Linoleic Acid / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D018724:Spinacia oleracea / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D013552:Swine / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D043371:Fatty Acids, Omega-6; D019787:Linoleic Acid; D044943:Fatty Acid Desaturases; C040448:delta-12 fatty acid desaturase