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Expression of Masu Salmon Δ5-Desaturase-Like Gene Elevated EPA and DHA Biosynthesis in Zebrafish

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Abstract

Farmed fish could substitute for marine capture fish as a source of fatty acids such as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) beneficial for human health; however, they require these compounds in their diets. In the present study on a model fish species, we modified the EPA/DHA biosynthesis pathway by overexpression of masu salmon Δ5-desaturase-like gene in zebrafish to increase its ability to synthesize EPA and DHA. Expression of this gene in transgenic fish fed a commercial diet and Artemia helped to improve their EPA content by 1.21-fold and DHA by 1.24-fold. In similar fish that were fed only Artemia the increments were 1.14-fold for EPA and 1.13-fold for DHA, compared with nontransgenic fish. In contrast, eicosatetraenoic acid content decreased, as it is a substrate of Δ5-desaturase, while the total lipid remained constant. The results demonstrated that masu salmon Δ5-desaturase is functional in zebrafish and can modify its fatty acid metabolic pathway. The technique could be applied to farmed fish to generate a nutritionally richer product for human consumption.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. Masato Kinoshita (Kyoto University, Japan) for generous gift the pOBA-109 plasmid. This work was supported by a Grant-in Aid from the Japan Society for Promotion of Science (No. 14360108) and funds from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan (No. 15658063).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Marine Biosciences, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, Minato, Tokyo, 108-8477, Japan

    Alimuddin, Goro Yoshizaki, Viswanath Kiron, Shuichi Satoh & Toshio Takeuchi

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  1. Alimuddin
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  2. Goro Yoshizaki
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  3. Viswanath Kiron
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  4. Shuichi Satoh
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  5. Toshio Takeuchi
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Correspondence to Goro Yoshizaki.

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Alimuddin, Yoshizaki, G., Kiron, V. et al. Expression of Masu Salmon Δ5-Desaturase-Like Gene Elevated EPA and DHA Biosynthesis in Zebrafish. Mar Biotechnol 9, 92–100 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10126-006-6003-y

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