Document Detail


The repertoire of desaturases and elongases reveals fatty acid variations in 56 eukaryotic genomes.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  17921532     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
The repertoire of biosynthetic enzymes found in an organism is an important clue for elucidating the chemical structural variations of various compounds. In the case of fatty acids, it is essential to examine key enzymes that are desaturases and elongases, whose combination determine the range of fatty acid structures. We systematically investigated 56 eukaryotic genomes to obtain 275 desaturase and 265 elongase homologs. Phylogenetic and motif analysis indicated that the desaturases consisted of four functionally distinct subfamilies and the elongases consisted of two subfamilies. From the combination of the subfamilies, we then predicted the ability to synthesize six types of fatty acids. Consequently, we found that the ranges of synthesizable fatty acids were often different even between closely related organisms. The reason is that, as well as diverging into subfamilies, the enzymes have functionally diverged within the individual subfamilies. Finally, we discuss how the adaptation to individual environments and the ability to synthesize specific metabolites provides some explanation for the diversity of enzyme functions. This study provides an example of a potent strategy to bridge the gap from genomic knowledge to chemical knowledge.
Authors:
Kosuke Hashimoto; Akiyasu C Yoshizawa; Shujiro Okuda; Keiichi Kuma; Susumu Goto; Minoru Kanehisa
Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't     Date:  2007-10-07
Journal Detail:
Title:  Journal of lipid research     Volume:  49     ISSN:  0022-2275     ISO Abbreviation:  J. Lipid Res.     Publication Date:  2008 Jan 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2007-12-26     Completed Date:  2008-03-07     Revised Date:  2009-11-19    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  0376606     Medline TA:  J Lipid Res     Country:  United States    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  183-91     Citation Subset:  IM    
Affiliation:
Bioinformatics Center, Institute for Chemical Research, Kyoto University, Uji, Kyoto 611-0011, Japan.
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Acetyltransferases / chemistry*,  classification,  genetics,  metabolism
Amino Acid Sequence
Animals
Base Sequence
Evolution, Molecular
Fatty Acid Desaturases / chemistry*,  classification,  genetics,  metabolism
Fatty Acids, Unsaturated / biosynthesis*,  chemistry
Fungi / enzymology
Genome
Humans
Molecular Sequence Data
Phylogeny
Plants / enzymology
Chemical
Reg. No./Substance:
0/Fatty Acids, Unsaturated; EC 1.14.19.-/Fatty Acid Desaturases; EC 2.3.1.-/Acetyltransferases; EC 2.3.1.-/fatty acid elongases

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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