Publications

• A gene encoding a chloroplast omega-3 fatty acid desaturase complements alterations in fatty acid desaturation and chloroplast copy number of the fad7 mutant of Arabidopsis thaliana.

  Iba K., Gibson S., Nishiuchi T., Fuse T., Nishimura M., Arondel V., Hugly S., Somerville C.R.

  Mutations at the fad7 locus of Arabidopsis thaliana (previously called fadD) cause decreased desaturation of dienoic fatty acids in chloroplast lipids in plants grown at elevated temperatures. This suggested that the fad7 locus encodes a chloroplast omega-3 desaturase that catalyzes the desaturati ... >> More

  Mutations at the fad7 locus of Arabidopsis thaliana (previously called fadD) cause decreased desaturation of dienoic fatty acids in chloroplast lipids in plants grown at elevated temperatures. This suggested that the fad7 locus encodes a chloroplast omega-3 desaturase that catalyzes the desaturation of lipid-linked 18:2 and 16:2 fatty acids. In order to clone the fad7 gene, it was first genetically mapped relative to the flanking restriction fragment length polymorphism markers 4547 and 2488A on chromosome 3, and yeast artificial chromosomes covering the locus were identified. A putative desaturase cDNA clone that was isolated by low stringency heterologous probing with a cDNA for an endoplasmic reticulum-localized omega-3 desaturase (fad3) hybridized to the yeast artificial chromosomes and could not be resolved from the locus by restriction fragment length polymorphism mapping. Expression of the cDNA in transgenic fad7 mutant plants resulted in restoration of wild type fatty acid composition and suppression of a previously observed effect of the fad7 mutation on chloroplast number, indicating genetic complementation. The structural gene contained seven introns within a coding sequence of 1338 base pairs, which encodes a 446-amino acid polypeptide of 51,172 daltons. The amino-terminal region of the fad7 gene product contained a consensus chloroplast transit peptide. Except for the amino-terminal domain, the deduced amino acid sequence of the fad7 gene product had high homology to the fad3 gene product, indicating that fad7 encodes an omega-3 desaturase and that the two genes arose from a common ancestral gene. There was no apparent effect of growth temperature on the steady-state levels of fad7 mRNA in wild type plants. << Less

  J. Biol. Chem. 268:24099-24105(1993) [PubMed] [EuropePMC]

  This publication is cited by 4 other entries.

• Functional characterization of a plastidial omega-3 desaturase from sunflower (Helianthus annuus) in cyanobacteria.

  Venegas-Caleron M., Muro-Pastor A.M., Garces R., Martinez-Force E.

  Fatty acid desaturases (FAD) play an important role in plant lipid metabolism and they can be found in several subcellular compartments such as the plastids and endoplasmic reticulum. Lipids are critical components of the cell membrane and, as a consequence, they are fundamental for the proper gro ... >> More

  Fatty acid desaturases (FAD) play an important role in plant lipid metabolism and they can be found in several subcellular compartments such as the plastids and endoplasmic reticulum. Lipids are critical components of the cell membrane and, as a consequence, they are fundamental for the proper growth and development of all living organisms. We have used sequences from the conserved regions of known omega-3-desaturases to design degenerated oligonucleotides and clone a cDNA encoding a plastidial omega-3 desaturase from sunflower (HaFAD7). From its presumed full-length sequence, we predict that Hafad7 encodes a protein of 443 amino acids with a molecular mass of 50.8 kDa, and that it contains a putative chloroplast transit peptide of 51 amino acids. The predicted hydrophobicity of the protein identifies four potential membrane-spanning regions and, according to the TargetP algorithm, the protein should be targeted to the plastid/chloroplast membrane. RT-PCR analysis of its expression shows the transcript is preferentially expressed in photosynthetically active tissues. Heterologous expression of this protein in the unicellular cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 confirmed that the protein produced from this cDNA has omega-3 desaturase activity. << Less

  Plant Physiol. Biochem. 44:517-525(2006) [PubMed] [EuropePMC]

  This publication is cited by 4 other entries.

• A Mutation at the fad8 Locus of Arabidopsis Identifies a Second Chloroplast [omega]-3 Desaturase.

  McConn M., Hugly S., Browse J., Somerville C.

  Two independently isolated mutations at the fad7 locus in Arabidopsis produced plants with a temperature-conditional phenotype. Leaves of fad7 mutants grown at 28[deg]C contained less than 30% of wild-type levels of trienoic fatty acids (16:3 plus 18:3) compared with more than 70% of wild-type lev ... >> More

  Two independently isolated mutations at the fad7 locus in Arabidopsis produced plants with a temperature-conditional phenotype. Leaves of fad7 mutants grown at 28[deg]C contained less than 30% of wild-type levels of trienoic fatty acids (16:3 plus 18:3) compared with more than 70% of wild-type levels for plants grown at 15[deg]C. Screening of an M2 population derived from the fad7-1 line led to the identification of a line, SH1, in which the proportion of trienoic acids was much less than in fad7 plants. The segregation pattern of F2 progeny from a cross between SH1 and wild type indicated that the additional fatty acid mutation in SH1 is at a new locus, designated fad8. In a genetic background that was wild type at the FAD7 locus, the fad8 mutation had no detectable effect on overall leaf fatty acid composition irrespective of the temperature at which plants were grown. However, fatty acid analyses of individual leaf lipids revealed small decreases in the levels of 18:3 in two chloroplast lipids. In fad8 plants grown at 22[deg]C, phospha-tidylglycerol contained 22.5% 18:3 compared with 33.5% in wild-type Arabidopsis. For sulfoquinovosyldiacylglycerol, the values were 31.4 and 44.5%, respectively. Together with information from studies of the cloned FAD8 gene (S. Gibson, V. Arondel, K. Iba, C. Somerville [1994] Plant Physiol 106: 1615-1621), these results indicate that the FAD8 locus encodes a chloroplast-localized 16:2/18:2 desaturase that has a substrate specificity similar to the FAD7 gene product but that is induced by low temperature. << Less

  Plant Physiol. 106:1609-1614(1994) [PubMed] [EuropePMC]

  This publication is cited by 4 other entries.