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Biosynthesis of Long Chain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids in the Marine Ichthyosporean Sphaeroforma arctica

  • Original Article
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Lipids

Abstract

Sphaeroforma arctica is a unique, recently discovered marine protist belonging to a group falling close to the yeast/animal border. S. arctica is found in cold environments, and accordingly has a fatty acid composition containing a high proportion of very long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, including the ω3 polyunsaturated fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexanoic acid (DHA). Two elongases and five desaturases, representing the complete set of enzymes necessary for the synthesis of DHA from oleic acid, were isolated from this species and characterized in yeast. One elongase showed high conversion rates on a wide range of 18 and 20 carbon substrates, and was capable of sequential elongation reactions. The second elongase had a strong preference for the 20-carbon fatty acids EPA and arachidonic acid, with over 80 % of EPA converted to docosapentaenoic acid (DPA) in the heterologous yeast host. The isolation of a Δ8-desaturase, along with the detection of eicosadienoic acid in S. arctica cultures indicated that this species uses the alternate Δ8-pathway for the synthesis of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids. S. arctica also carried a Δ4-desaturase that proved to be very active in the production of DHA from DPA. Finally, a long chain acyl-CoA synthetase from S. arctica improved DHA uptake in the heterologous yeast host and led to an improvement in desaturation and elongation efficiencies.

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Abbreviations

VLCPUFA:

Very long chain polyunsaturated fatty acid(s)

EPA:

Eicosapentaenoic acid

DHA:

Docosahexaenoic acid

DPA:

Docosapentaenoic acid

OA:

Oleic acid

LA:

Linoleic acid

ALA:

α-Linolenic acid

GLA:

γ-Linolenic acid

DGLA:

Dihomo-γ-linolenic acid

ARA:

Arachidonic acid

SDA:

Stearidonic acid

EDA:

Eicosadienoic acid

ETA:

Eicosatetraenoic acid

PA:

Palmitoleic acid

SA:

Stearic acid

FAME:

Fatty acid methyl ester(s)

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Acknowledgments

We are very grateful to Andrew Roger, Jacqueline de Mestral, and Inaki Ruiz Trillo for providing cultures and advice on growing S. arctica. We also thank Ashley Fulton and Dan Contreras for technical support.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Ioannis Mavraganis

    Present address: National Research Council, Plant Biotechnology Institute, Saskatoon, SK, Canada

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bioriginal Food and Science Corporation, Saskatoon, SK, Canada

    Patricia Vrinten & Ioannis Mavraganis

  2. Department of Food and Bioproduct Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada

    Xiao Qiu

  3. BASF Plant Science Company GmbH, Limburgerhof, Germany

    Toralf Senger

Authors
  1. Patricia Vrinten
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  2. Ioannis Mavraganis
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  3. Xiao Qiu
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  4. Toralf Senger
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Patricia Vrinten.

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Vrinten, P., Mavraganis, I., Qiu, X. et al. Biosynthesis of Long Chain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids in the Marine Ichthyosporean Sphaeroforma arctica . Lipids 48, 263–274 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11745-012-3738-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11745-012-3738-2

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