Cloning and molecular characterization of△^(12)-fatty acid desaturase gene from Mortierella isabellina

AIM： To clone △^12 -fatty acid desaturase gene of Mortierella isabellina and to functionally characterize this gene in vitro and in vivo.METHODS： Reverse transcriptional polymerase chain reaction （RT-PCR） was used to clone the open reading frame of △^12-fatty acid desaturase gene （D12D） of Mortierella isabellina. Plasmids pEMICL12 and pYMICL12 were constructed with it. pEMICL12 was transformed into Escherichia coli（E.coli） strain BL21 using CaCl2 method for expression after induction with IPTG. pTMICL12 was transformed into Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain IN- VSc1 using lithium acetate method for expression under the induction of galactose. Northern blotting method was used to investigate the effect of temperature on the transcriptional level of this gene in S.cerevisiae strain IN- VSc1.RESULTS： Recombinant plasmids pEMICL12 and pTMICL12 were successfully constructed and transformed into E. coli and S.cerevisiae separately with appropriate method. After induction with IPTG and galactose, it was found that expression of △^12-fatty acid desaturase genes in E.coli and S. cerevisiae under appropriate conditions led to the production of active △^12-fatty acid desaturase, which could convert 17.876% and 17.604% of oleic acid respectively to linoleic acid by GC-MS detection in vitro and in vivo.CONCLUSION： Cloning and expression of M.isabellina D12D gene in E.coli and S.cerevisiae is successfully completed.

Cloning of Cotton Delta-12 Oleate Desaturase Gene FAD2-1 and Construction of Its ihpRNA and amiRNA Interference Vectors

Delta-12 oleate desaturase gene （FAD2-1） which converts oleic acid into linoleic acid, is the key enzyme determining the fatty acid composition of cottonseed oil. By employing RT-PCR method, full length cDNA of cotton delta-12 oleate desat- urase gene GhFAD2-1 containing an open reading frame of 1 158 bp was cloned for constructing RNAi vector. A 515 bp long specific fragment of this gene was se- lected for constructing ihpRNA vector under the control of a seed-specific promoter NAPIN, named pFGC1008-NAPIN-FAD2-1; meanwhile miRNA gene-silencing vector pCAMBIA1302-amiRNA-FAD2-1 targeting GhFAD2-1 was also constructed.

Generation of fad2 transgenic mice that produce omega-6 fatty acids

Fatty acid desaturase-2 (FAD2) introduces a double bond in position 12 in oleic acid (18:1) to form linoleic acid (18:2 n-6) in higher plants and microbes. A new transgenic expression cassette, containing CMV promoter/fad2 cDNA/SV40 polyA, was constructedto produce transgenic mice. Among 63 healthy offspring, 10 founders (15.9%) integrated the cotton fad2 transgene into their genomes, as demonstrated by PCR and Southern blotting analysis. All founder mice were fertile and heterozygous fad2 female and nontransgenic littermates were used for fatty acid analysis using gas chromatography. One fad2 transgenic line showed substantial differences in the fatty acid profiles and the level of linoleic acid was increased 19% (P<0.05) in transgenic muscles compared to their nontransgenic littermates. Moreover, it exhibited an 87% and a 9% increase (P<0.05) in arachidonic acid (20:4 n-6) in muscles and liver, compared to their nontransgenic littermates. The results indicate that the plant fad2 gene can be functionally expressed in transgenic mice and may playan active role in conversion of oleic acid into linoleic acid.