Open AccessBiosynthesis of Cyclopentenyl Fatty Acids
Author(s) -
SPENER Friedrich
Publication year - 1975
Publication title -
european journal of biochemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1432-1033
pISSN - 0014-2956
DOI - 10.1111/j.1432-1033.1975.tb04053.x
Subject(s) - fatty acid , chemistry , elongation , double bond , biosynthesis , biochemistry , polyunsaturated fatty acid , amino acid , ring (chemistry) , stereochemistry , organic chemistry , enzyme , materials science , metallurgy , ultimate tensile strength
1 When [1‐ 14 C]aleprolic acid was supplied to whole cells of Chlorella vulgaris , cyclopentenyl fatty acids, naturally occurring in seeds and leaves of some Flacourtiaceae, were synthesized. The main cyclopentenyl fatty acids produced were the C 16 , C 18 , and C 20 acids. 2 When incubations were carried out under nitrogen, the ratio of monounsaturated to diunsaturated cyclopentenyl fatty acids increased four‐fold. The double bond was introduced at the same ‘usual’ and ‘unusual’ positions in the aliphatic chain of the cyclic acids as in the case of the cyclic acids synthesized by Flacourtiaceae. 3 It was concluded that cyclopentenyl fatty acids were synthesized in the same manner as saturated and unsaturated straight‐chain fatty acids, rather than by cyclisation of a precursor fatty acid. Aleprolic acid is elongated and the resulting cyclopentenyl fatty acids are then desaturated. Desaturation at ‘unusual’ positions in the aliphatic chain of these acids may be explained by the conformation of the cyclopentene ring in cyclopentenyl fatty acids.