New insight into Phaeodactylum tricornutum fatty acid metabolism. Cloning and functional characterization of plastidial and microsomal delta12-fatty acid desaturases.

In contrast to 16:3 plants like rapeseed (Brassica napus), which contain alpha-linolenic acid (18:3(Delta9,12,15)) and hexadecatrienoic acid (16:3(Delta7,10,13)) as major polyunsaturated fatty acids in leaves, the silica-less diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum contains eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA; 20:5(Delta5,8,11,14,17)) and a different isomer of hexadecatrienoic acid (16:3(Delta6,9,12)). In this report, we describe the characterization of two cDNAs having sequence homology to Delta12-fatty acid desaturases from higher plants. These cDNAs were shown to code for a microsomal and a plastidial Delta12-desaturase (PtFAD2 and PtFAD6, respectively) by heterologous expression in yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and Synechococcus, respectively.

Molecular characterization of the poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) synthase from Ralstonia eutropha: in vitro evolution, site-specific mutagenesis and development of a PHB synthase protein model.

A threading model of the Ralstonia eutropha polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) synthase was developed based on the homology to the Burkholderia glumae lipase, whose structure has been resolved by X-ray analysis. The lid-like structure in the model was discussed. In this study, various R.