We report the production of two very long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, arachidonic acid (AA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), in substantial quantities in a higher plant. This was achieved using genes encoding enzymes participating in the omega3/6 Delta8 -desaturation biosynthetic pathways for the formation of C20 polyunsaturated fatty acids. Arabidopsis thaliana was transformed sequentially with genes encoding a Delta9 -specific elongating activity from Isochrysis galbana, a Delta8 -desaturase from Euglena gracilis and a Delta5 -desaturase from Mortierella alpina. Instrumental in the successful reconstitution of these C20 polyunsaturated fatty acid biosynthetic pathways was the I. galbana C18-Delta9 -elongating activity, which may bypass rate-limiting steps present in the conventional Delta6 -desaturase/elongase pathways. The accumulation of EPA and AA in transgenic plants is a breakthrough in the search for alternative sustainable sources of fish oils.

Isochrysis galbana, a marine prymnesiophyte micro-

Summary The establishment of pollen–pistil compatibility is strictly regulated by factors derived from both male and female reproductive structures. Highly diverse small cysteine‐rich proteins (CRPs) have been found to play multiple roles in plant reproduction, including the earliest stages of the pollen–stigma interaction. Secreted CRPs found in the pollen coat of members of the Brassicaceae, the pollen coat proteins (PCPs), are emerging as important signalling molecules that regulate the pollen–stigma interaction.Using a combination of protein characterization, expression and phylogenetic analyses we identified a novel class of Arabidopsis thaliana pollen‐borne CRPs, the PCP‐Bs (for pollen coat protein B‐class) that are related to embryo surrounding factor (ESF1) developmental regulators. Single and multiple PCP‐B mutant lines were utilized in bioassays to assess effects on pollen hydration, adhesion and pollen tube growth.Our results revealed that pollen hydration is severely impaired when multiple PCP‐Bs are lost from the pollen coat. The hydration defect also resulted in reduced pollen adhesion and delayed pollen tube growth in all mutants studied.These results demonstrate that At PCP‐Bs are key regulators of the hydration ‘checkpoint’ in establishment of pollen–stigma compatibility. In addition, we propose that interspecies diversity of PCP‐Bs may contribute to reproductive barriers in the Brassicaceae.

S-acylation of eukaryotic proteins is the reversible attachment of palmitic or stearic acid to cysteine residues, catalysed by protein S-acyl transferases that share an Asp-His-His-Cys (DHHC) motif. Previous evidence suggests that in Arabidopsis S-acylation is involved in the control of cell size, polarity and the growth of pollen tubes and root hairs.Using a combination of yeast genetics, biochemistry, cell biology and loss of function genetics the roles of a member of the protein S-acyl transferase PAT family, AtPAT10 (At3g51390), have been explored.In keeping with its role as a PAT, AtPAT10 auto-S-acylates, and partially complements the yeast akr1 PAT mutant, and this requires Cys192 of the DHHC motif. In Arabidopsis AtPAT10 is localized in the Golgi stack, trans-Golgi network/early endosome and tonoplast. Loss-of-function mutants have a pleiotropic phenotype involving cell expansion and division, vascular patterning, and fertility that is rescued by wild-type AtPAT10 but not by catalytically inactive AtPAT10C192A. This supports the hypothesis that AtPAT10 is functionally independent of the other Arabidopsis PATs.Our findings demonstrate a growing importance of protein S-acylation in plants, and reveal a Golgi and tonoplast located S-acylation mechanism that affects a range of events during growth and development in Arabidopsis.

A cDNA encoding a C 20 D8-desaturase was isolated from the free-living soil amoeba, Acanthamoeba castellanii and functionally characterised by heterologous expression. The open reading frame of the A. castellanii C 20 D8-desaturase showed similarity to other microsomal front-end desaturases, but the N-terminal domain contained a variant form of the conserved heme-binding motif in which H-P-G-G is replaced by H-P-A-G. Co-expression of the A. castellani D8-desaturase with the Isochrysis galbana D9-elongase in transgenic Arabidopsis plants confirmed the activity observed in yeast and its role in the alternative pathway for C 20 polyunsaturated fatty acid synthesis. Acyl-CoA profiles of these transgenic plants revealed an unexpected accumulation of C 20 fatty acids in the acyl-CoA pool. This is the first report of an alternative pathway C 20 D8-desaturase from a non-photosynthetic organism, and also the first report of a front-end desaturase lacking the canonical cytochrome b 5 domain.

The effect of temperature and duration of cooking on plantain and banana fruit texture and cytpoplasmic and cell wall components was investigated. The firmness of both banana and plantain pulp tissues decreased rapidly during the first 10 min of cooking in water above 70 degrees C, although plantain was much firmer than banana. Cooking resulted in pectin solubilzation and middle lamella dissolution leading to cell wall separation (as observed by SEM). Dessert banana showed more advanced and extensive breakdown than plantain. Although dessert banana had a higher total pectin content than plantain, the former had smaller-sized carboxyethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (CDTA) soluble pectic polymers which are associated with plant tissues that have a propensity to soften. Plantain had higher levels of starch and amylose than banana but this was associated with a firmer fruit texture rather than a softening due to cell swelling during starch gelatinization. Different cooking treatments showed that cooking in 0.5% of CaCl(2) solution and temperatures below 70 degrees C had significant effects on maintenance of pulp firmness.

S-acylation, also known as S-palmitoylation or palmitoylation, is a reversible post-translational lipid modification in which long chain fatty acid, usually the 16-carbon palmitate, covalently attaches to a cysteine residue(s) throughout the protein via a thioester bond. It is involved in an array of important biological processes during growth and development, reproduction and stress responses in plant. S-acylation is a ubiquitous mechanism in eukaryotes catalyzed by a family of enzymes called Protein S-Acyl Transferases (PATs). Since the discovery of the first PAT in yeast in 2002 research in S-acylation has accelerated in the mammalian system and followed by in plant. However, it is still a difficult field to study due to the large number of PATs and even larger number of putative S-acylated substrate proteins they modify in each genome. This is coupled with drawbacks in the techniques used to study S-acylation, leading to the slower progress in this field compared to protein phosphorylation, for example. In this review we will summarize the discoveries made so far based on knowledge learnt from the characterization of protein S-acyltransferases and the S-acylated proteins, the interaction mechanisms between PAT and its specific substrate protein(s) in yeast and mammals. Research in protein S-acylation and PATs in plants will also be covered although this area is currently less well studied in yeast and mammalian systems.

A cDNA isolated from the prymnesiophyte micro-alga Isochrysis galbana, designated IgASE1, encodes a fatty acid elongating component that is specific for linoleic acid (C18:2n-6) and a-linolenic acid (C18:3n-3). Constitutive expression of IgASE1 in Arabidopsis resulted in the accumulation of eicosadienoic acid (EDA; C20:2n-6) and eicosatrienoic acid (ETrA; C20:3n-3) in all tissues examined, with no visible effects on plant morphology. Positional analysis of the various lipid classes indicated that these novel fatty acids were largely excluded from the sn-2 position of chloroplast galactolipids and seed triacylglycerol, whereas they were enriched in the same position in phosphatidylcholine. EDA and ETrA are precursors of arachidonic acid (C20:4n-6), eicosapentaenoic acid (C20:5n-3), and docosahexaenoic acid (C22:6n-3) synthesized via the so-called v6 D8 desaturase and v3 D8 desaturase biosynthetic pathways, respectively. The synthesis of significant quantities of EDA and ETrA in a higher plant is therefore a key step in the production of very long chain polyunsaturated fatty acid in oil-seed species. The results are further discussed in terms of prokaryotic and eukaryotic pathways of lipid synthesis in plants.The very long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (VLCPUFAs), arachidonic acid (AA; C20:4n-6), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA; C22:6n-3), and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA; C20:5n-3) are considered to have profound effects on cell function and development. The reduction in nonfatal and fatal cardiovascular events that is associated with the consumption of EPA and DHA may be due to the stabilization of atherosclerotic plaques (Thies et al., 2003). AA and DHA are considered to be important in pre-and postnatal development (Crawford, 2000; for review, see Lauritzen et al., 2001). Such VLCPUFAs are also precursors of the physiologically active prostaglandins, thromboxanes, and leukotrienes. No higher plants contain these fatty acids and hence it is considered desirable to genetically engineer the capacity to synthesize them in oilseed species and so provide an important source for the nutraceutical/pharmaceutical industries.Isochrysis galbana is a marine microalga that is rich in DHA and EPA (Lopez et al., 1994). Recently we isolated and characterized a cDNA from I. galbana, which encodes a novel fatty acid elongase component designated IgASE1 (Qi et al., 2002(Qi et al., , 2003. Transgenic yeastexpressing IgASE1 converted linoleic acid (LA; C18:2n-6) and a-linolenic acid (ALA; C18:3n-3) to eicosadienoic acid (EDA; C20:2n-6) and eicosatrienoic acid (ETrA; C20:3n-3), respectively (Qi et al., 2002). The substrate specificity of IgASE1 is consistent with it catalyzing the condensation reaction of fatty acid elongation (Qi et al., 2003). We have further suggested (Qi et al., 2002(Qi et al., , 2003 that the IgASE1 elongating activity is the first committed step in VLCPUFA synthesis and hence AA, EPA, and DHA formation via the so-called v3 D8 and v6 D8 pathways, respectively ( Fig. 1; Nichols and Appleby, 1969).Here we report the...