Clone and identification of bifunctional Δ12/Δ15 fatty acid desaturase LKFAD15 from Lipomyces kononenkoae

In modern diet of human being, the omega-6/omega-3 ratio of dietary fatty acid was shifted much towards omega-6 series. In this work, a fatty acid desaturase (FAD) gene lkfad15 was cloned and identified from oleaginous yeast Lipomyces kononenkoae. Function analysis results shown that LKFAD15 is a novel Delta 12/Delta 15 bifunctional FAD which could not only produce linoleic acid and alpha-linolenic acid use just oleic acid as substrate but also adjust the omega- 6/omega-3 fatty acids ratio to the WHO recommended ratio. Phylogenetic analysis of LKFAD15 suggested it is a specific intermediate product of gene evolution derives from independent gene duplication events.