Identification and Functional Characterization of the 2-Hydroxy Fatty N-Acyl-Δ3(E)-desaturase from Fusarium graminearum
Δ3(E)-Unsaturated fatty acids are characteristic components of glycosylceramides from some fungi, including also human- and plant-pathogenic species. The function and genetic basis for this unsaturation is unknown. For Fusarium graminearum, which is pathogenic to grasses and cereals, we could show t...
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Published in | The Journal of biological chemistry Vol. 283; no. 52; pp. 36734 - 36742 |
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Main Authors | , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Elsevier Inc
26.12.2008
American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Δ3(E)-Unsaturated fatty acids are characteristic components of glycosylceramides from some fungi, including also human- and plant-pathogenic species. The function and genetic basis for this unsaturation is unknown. For Fusarium graminearum, which is pathogenic to grasses and cereals, we could show that the level of Δ3-unsaturation of glucosylceramide (GlcCer) was highest at low temperatures and decreased when the fungus was grown above 28 °C. With a bioinformatics approach, we identified a new family of polypeptides carrying the histidine box motifs characteristic for membrane-bound desaturases. One of the corresponding genes was functionally characterized as a sphingolipid-Δ3(E)-desaturase. Deletion of the candidate gene in F. graminearum resulted in loss of the Δ3(E)-double bond in the fatty acyl moiety of GlcCer. Heterologous expression of the corresponding cDNA from F. graminearum in the yeast Pichia pastoris led to the formation of Δ3(E)-unsaturated GlcCer. |
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ISSN: | 0021-9258 1083-351X |
DOI: | 10.1074/jbc.M807264200 |