Functional expression of a Delta12 fatty acid desaturase gene from spinach in transgenic pigs.
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.
Saeki
Kazuhiro
K
Institute of Advanced Technology, Kinki University, Kainan, Wakayama 642-0017, Japan. saeki@gene.waka.kindai.ac.jp
Matsumoto
Kazuya
K
Kinoshita
Mikio
M
Suzuki
Iwane
I
Tasaka
Yasushi
Y
Kano
Koichiro
K
Taguchi
Yoshitomo
Y
Mikami
Koji
K
Hirabayashi
Masumi
M
Kashiwazaki
Naomi
N
Hosoi
Yoshihiko
Y
Murata
Norio
N
Iritani
Akira
A
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*
D017931:DNA Primers; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D043371:Fatty Acids, Omega-6; D019787:Linoleic Acid; D044943:Fatty Acid Desaturases; C040448:delta-12 fatty acid desaturase