Production of arachidonic and eicosapentaenoic acids in plants using bryophyte fatty acid delta6-desaturase, delta6-elongase, and delta5-desaturase genes
2008
Kajikawa, M.(Kyoto Univ. (Japan)) | Matsui, K. | Ochiai, M. | Tanaka, Y. | Kita, Y. | Ishimoto, M. | Kohzu, Y. | Shoji, S. | Yamato, K.T. | Ohyama, K. | Fukuzawa, H. | Kohchi, T.
The liverwort Marchantia polymorpha L. synthesizes arachidonic (ARA) and eicosapentaenoic acids (EPA) from linoleic and alpha-linolenic acids respectively by a series of reactions catalyzed by delta6-desaturase, delta6-elongase, and delta5-desaturase. Overexpression of the M. polymorpha genes encoding these enzymes in transgenic M. polymorpha plants resulted in 3- and 2-fold accumulation of ARA and EPA respectively, as compared to those in the wild type. When these three genes were introduced and co-expressed in tobacco plants, in which long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFAs) are not native cellular components, ARA and EPA represented up to 15.5% and 4.9% respectively of the total fatty acid in the leaves. Similarly in soybean, C20-LCPUFAs represented up to 19.5% of the total fatty acids in the seeds. These results suggest that M. polymorpha can provide genes crucial to the production of C20-LCPUFAS in transgenic plants.
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