Open AccessIdentification of Δ 5 ‐fatty acid desaturase from the cellular slime mold Dictyostelium discoideum
Author(s) -
Saito Tamao,
Ochiai Hiroshi
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
european journal of biochemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1432-1033
pISSN - 0014-2956
DOI - 10.1046/j.1432-1327.1999.00789.x
Subject(s) - dictyostelium discoideum , complementary dna , biology , saccharomyces cerevisiae , peptide sequence , fatty acid desaturase , biochemistry , slime mold , nucleic acid sequence , yeast , fatty acid , gene , polyunsaturated fatty acid
cDNA fragments putatively encoding amino acid sequences characteristic of the fatty acid desaturase were obtained using expressed sequence tag (EST) information of the Dictyostelium cDNA project. Using this sequence, we have determined the cDNA sequence and genomic sequence of a desaturase. The cloned cDNA is 1489 nucleotides long and the deduced amino acid sequence comprised 464 amino acid residues containing an N‐terminal cytochrome b 5 domain. The whole sequence was 38.6% identical to the initially identified Δ 5 ‐desaturase of Mortierella alpina . We have confirmed its function as Δ 5 ‐desaturase by over expression mutation in D. discoideum and also the gain of function mutation in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Analysis of the lipids from transformed D. discoideum and yeast demonstrated the accumulation of Δ 5 ‐desaturated products. This is the first report concering fatty acid desaturase in cellular slime molds.