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Identification of Primula fatty acid Δ 6 ‐desaturases with n ‐3 substrate preferences 1
Author(s) -
Sayanova Olga V.,
Beaudoin Frédéric,
Michaelson Louise V.,
Shewry Peter R.,
Napier Johnathan A.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/s0014-5793(03)00358-2
Subject(s) - fatty acid , polyunsaturated fatty acid , fatty acid desaturase , substrate (aquarium) , biochemistry , linolenic acid , primula , chemistry , stereochemistry , linoleic acid , biology , botany , ecology
Fatty acid Δ 6 ‐desaturation, the first committed step in C 20 polyunsaturated fatty acid biosynthesis, is generally considered not to discriminate between n ‐3 and n ‐6 substrates. We previously identified higher plant species that showed preferential Δ 6 ‐desaturation of n ‐3 C 18 fatty acid substrates. A polymerase chain reaction‐based approach was used to isolate ‘front‐end’ cytochrome b 5 fusion desaturases from Primula vialii Franchet and Primula farinosa L. Functional analysis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae identified fatty acid Δ 6 ‐desaturases with a strong specificity for the n ‐3 substrate α‐linolenic acid (18:3Δ 9,12,15 ). These results indicate that the accumulation of octadecatetraenoic acid (18:4Δ 6,9,12,15 ) in planta is due to the activity of a novel n ‐3‐specific fatty acid Δ 6 ‐desaturase.