Peter Olsson
Researcher
Functional expression of five Arabidopsis fatty acyl-CoA reductase genes in Escherichia coli
Author
Summary, in English
Very long chain primary alcohols are significant components in cuticle waxes of plants. Fatty acyl-CoA reductases (FARs) catalyze the formation of a fatty alcohol from an acyl-CoA. The Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) genome contains eight genes homologous to FAR genes from jojoba (Simmondsia chinensis), silk moth, wheat and mouse. Expression of six Arabidopsis FAR homologs in Escherichia coli resulted in production of alcohols from endogenous E. coli fatty acids by five of these genes, confirming that they encode for FAR enzymes. Only a truncated splicing version of the sixth gene was found, and this gene yielded a protein with no FAR activity. The five functional FAR enzymes yielded distinctly different compositions of fatty alcohols when expressed in E. coli, indicating that the different enzymes may be involved in the production of different types of alcohols in plant cells. (C) 2008 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.
Department/s
- Pure and Applied Biochemistry
Publishing year
2009
Language
English
Pages
787-796
Publication/Series
Journal of Plant Physiology
Volume
166
Issue
8
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
Gustav Fischer Verlag
Topic
- Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Keywords
- NAD(P)H
- Jojoba
- Fatty acyl-CoA reductase
- Fatty alcohol
- Wax ester
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 0176-1617