Open AccessRegulation of the Fatty Acid Composition of the Membrane Phospholipids of Escherichia coli
Author(s) -
Jr. John E. Cronan
Publication year - 1974
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.71.9.3758
Subject(s) - thioesterase , moiety , enzyme , fatty acid , biochemistry , chemistry , escherichia coli , unsaturated fatty acid , strain (injury) , phospholipid , fatty acid synthesis , composition (language) , biosynthesis , membrane , biology , organic chemistry , gene , linguistics , philosophy , anatomy
An increase in the dosage of thefabA gene, which codes for the enzyme β-hydroxydecanoyl thioesterase, causes an increase in the unsaturated fatty acyl content of the phospholipids. This increase is small in cells growing at a constant temperature. However, if cells grown at 37 or 42° are shifted to 15°, the rate of unsaturated fatty acyl moiety synthesis approaches twice the rate of a normal strain. These results indicate that the ratio of unsaturated to saturated fatty acyl groups in phospholipids is partially determined by the levels of at least this fatty acid biosynthetic enzyme.