Oxidoreductases;
Acting on paired donors, with incorporation or reduction of molecular oxygen;
With oxidation of a pair of donors resulting in the reduction of O2 to two molecules of water
The enzyme, which has been characterized from multiple organisms including the moss Physcomitrella patens, the marine microalga Rebecca salina, and the filamentous fungus Mortierella alpina, introduces a cis double bond at the 5-position in 20-carbon polyunsaturated fatty acids incorporated in a glycerolipid that contain a Delta8 double bond. The enzyme contains a cytochrome b5 domain that acts as the direct electron donor to the active site of the desaturase, and does not require an external cytochrome.
Kaewsuwan S, Cahoon EB, Perroud PF, Wiwat C, Panvisavas N, Quatrano RS, Cove DJ, Bunyapraphatsara N
Title
Identification and functional characterization of the moss Physcomitrella patens delta5-desaturase gene involved in arachidonic and eicosapentaenoic acid biosynthesis.
Zhou XR, Robert SS, Petrie JR, Frampton DM, Mansour MP, Blackburn SI, Nichols PD, Green AG, Singh SP
Title
Isolation and characterization of genes from the marine microalga Pavlova salina encoding three front-end desaturases involved in docosahexaenoic acid biosynthesis.