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 enzymes from several algae introduce a cis double bond at the 4-position in 22-carbon polyunsaturated fatty acids that contain a Delta7 double bond. The enzyme from the fresh water alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii acts on the 16 carbon fatty acid (7Z,10Z,13Z)-hexadeca-7,10,13-trienoate [5]. The enzyme contains an N-terminal cytochrome b5 domain that acts as the direct electron donor to the active site of the desaturase, and does not require an external cytochrome.
Identification of a Delta 4 fatty acid desaturase from Thraustochytrium sp. involved in the biosynthesis of docosahexanoic acid by heterologous expression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Brassica juncea.
Meyer A, Cirpus P, Ott C, Schlecker R, Zahringer U, Heinz E
Title
Biosynthesis of docosahexaenoic acid in Euglena gracilis: biochemical and molecular evidence for the involvement of a Delta4-fatty acyl group desaturase.
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.
