A Delta4 Fatty Acid Desaturase from Thraustochytrium aureum Involved in the Biosynthesis of Docosahexanoic Acid by Heterologous Experssion in E. coli

초록

Thraustochytrium is a unicellular marine eukaryotic microoganism and unusually produces long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids such as DHA and docosapentanoic acid (DPA) 22:5(n-6). DHA(docosahexanoic acid) is a fatty acid of the (n-3) series, and it is synthesized via alternating steps of desaturation and elongation. A delta4 fatty acid desaturase from Thraustochytrium sp. has been studied that introduced a double bond at the position of 22:5(7,10,13,16,19) and 22:4(7,10,13,16), resulting in the production of DHA and DPA, respectively. The function of delta4 fattya 챵 desaturase was idengified as the enzyme which involved in the biosynthesis of docosahexanoic acid(DHA) by gas chromatography. In the present study, when the Fad4 or putative Tad4 from Thraustochytrium aureum was expressed in E. coli, the fatty acid composition was changed, results support the notion that DHA and othe long-chain unsaturated fatty acids. There results support the notion that DHA can be synthesized via delta4 fatty acid desaturase in E. coli and suggest the possibility that DHA can be produced on a large scale.