Journal
FEBS JOURNAL
Volume 272, Issue 13, Pages 3401-3412Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1111/j.1742-4658.2005.04755.x
Keywords
desaturases; long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids; sphingolipids; Thalassiosira pseudonana; yeast expression
Categories
Funding
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council [BBS/E/C/00004156] Funding Source: Medline
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council [BBS/E/C/00004156] Funding Source: researchfish
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Analysis of a draft nuclear genome sequence of the diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana revealed the presence of 11 open reading frames showing significant similarity to functionally characterized fatty acid front-end desaturases. The corresponding genes occupy discrete chromosomal locations as determined by comparison with the recently published genome sequence. Phylogenetic analysis showed that two of the T. pseudonana desaturase (Tpdes) sequences grouped with proteobacterial desaturases that lack a fused cytochrome b5 domain. Among the nine remaining gene sequences, temporal expression analysis revealed that seven were expressed in T. pseudonana cells. One of these, TpdesN, was previously characterized as encoding a Delta(11)-desaturase active on palmitic acid. From the six remaining putative desaturase genes, we report here that three, TpdesI, TpdesO and TpdesK, respectively encode Delta(6)-, Delta(5)- and Delta(4)-desaturases involved in production of the health beneficial polyunsaturated fatty acid DHA (docosahexaenoic acid). Furthermore, we show that one of the remaining genes, TpdesB, encodes a Delta(8)-sphingolipid desaturase with strong preference for dihydroxylated substrates.
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