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Molecular and Functional Analysis of Three Fatty Acyl-CoA Reductases with Distinct Substrate Specificities in Copepod Calanus finmarchicus

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Abstract

The marine copepod Calanus finmarchicus constitutes the substantial amount of biomass in the Arctic and Northern seas. It is unique in that this small crustacean accumulates a high level of wax esters as carbon storage which is mainly comprised of 20:1n−9 and 22:1n−11 alcohols (Alc) linked with various kinds of fatty acids, including n−3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. The absence of 20:1n−9 Alc and 22:1n−11 Alc in diatoms and dinoflagellates, the primary food sources of copepods, suggests the existence of de novo biosynthesis of fatty alcohols in C. finmarchinus. Here, we report identification of three genes, CfFAR1, CfFAR2, and CfFAR3, coding for fatty acyl-CoA reductases involved in the conversion of various fatty acyl-CoAs to their corresponding alcohols. Functional characterization of these genes in yeast indicated that CfFAR1 could use a wide range of saturated fatty acids from C18 to C26 as substrates, CfFAR2 had a narrow range of substrates with only very-long-chain saturated fatty acid 24:0 and 26:0, while CfFAR3 was active towards both saturated (16:0 and 18:0) and unsaturated (18:1 and 20:1) fatty acids producing corresponding alcohols. This finding suggested that these three fatty acyl-CoA reductases are likely responsible for de novo synthesis of a series of fatty alcohol moieties of wax esters in C. finmarchicus.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Erica Head, Marc Ringuette, and Jeff Spry from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Canada for providing the copepod materials.

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  1. Prapapan Teerawanichpan

    Present address: Monsanto Thailand Limited, 99 Moo 2 Ban Wiangwai, T. Maegorn, A. Muang, Chiang Rai, 57000, Thailand

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Food & Bioproduct Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 5A8, Canada

    Prapapan Teerawanichpan & Xiao Qiu

  2. Plant Biotechnology Institute, National Research Council of Canada, 110 Gymnasium Place, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 0W9, Canada

    Xiao Qiu

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  1. Prapapan Teerawanichpan
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Correspondence to Xiao Qiu.

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Teerawanichpan, P., Qiu, X. Molecular and Functional Analysis of Three Fatty Acyl-CoA Reductases with Distinct Substrate Specificities in Copepod Calanus finmarchicus . Mar Biotechnol 14, 227–236 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10126-011-9406-3

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