title: Repercussion of a deficiency in mitochondrial ß-oxidation on the carbon flux of short-chain fatty acids to the peroxisomal ß-oxidation cycle in Aspergillus nidulans.
abstract: The fungus Aspergillus nidulans contains both a mitochondrial and peroxisomal ß-oxidation pathway. This work was aimed at studying the influence of mutations in the foxA gene, encoding a peroxisomal multifunctional protein, or in the scdA/echA genes, encoding a mitochondrial short-chain dehydrogenase and an enoyl-CoA hydratase, respectively, on the carbon flux to the peroxisomal ß-oxidation pathway. A. nidulans transformed with a peroxisomal polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) synthase produced PHA from the polymerization of 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA intermediates derived from the peroxisomal ß-oxidation of external fatty acids. PHA produced from erucic acid or heptadecanoic acid contained a broad spectrum of monomers, ranging from 5 to 14 carbons, revealing that the peroxisomal ß-oxidation cycle can handle both long and short-chain intermediates. While the ∆foxA mutant grown on erucic acid or oleic acid synthesized 10-fold less PHA compared to wild type, the same mutant grown on octanoic acid or heptanoic acid produced 3- to 6-fold more PHA. Thus, while FoxA has an important contribution to the degradation of long-chain fatty acids, the flux of short-chain fatty acids to peroxisomal ß-oxidation is actually enhanced in its absence. While no change in PHA was observed in the ∆scdA∆echA mutant grown on erucic acid or oleic acid compared to wild type, there was a 2- to 4-fold increased synthesis of PHA in ∆scdA∆echA cells grown in octanoic acid or heptanoic acid. These results reveal that a compensatory mechanism exists in A. nidulans that increases the flux of short-chain fatty acids towards the peroxisomal ß-oxidation cycle when the mitochondrial ß-oxidation pathway is defective.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Molecular Biology, University of Lausanne, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Pasqualina
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Magliano
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sanglard
authors.forename: Yves
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Poirier
mesh_terms: D001233:Aspergillus nidulans / Q000378:metabolism*; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002244:Carbon / Q000378:metabolism*; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000378:metabolism*; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000378:metabolism*; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D020675:Peroxisomes / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D005227:Fatty Acids; D002244:Carbon