Biotechnological potential of insect fatty acid-modifying enzymes

Abstract

There are more than one million described insect species. This species richness is reflected in the diversity of insect metabolic processes. In particular, biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, such as defensive compounds and chemical signals, encompasses an extraordinarily wide range of chemicals that are generally unparalleled among natural products from other organisms. Insect genomes, transcriptomes and proteomes thus offer a valuable resource for discovery of novel enzymes with potential for biotechnological applications. Here, we focus on fatty acid (FA) metabolism-related enzymes, notably the fatty acyl desaturases and fatty acyl reductases involved in the biosynthesis of FA-derived pheromones. Research on insect pheromone-biosynthetic enzymes, which exhibit diverse enzymatic properties, has the potential to broaden the understanding of enzyme specificity determinants and contribute to engineering of enzymes with desired properties for biotechnological production of FA derivatives. Additionally, the application of such pheromone-biosynthetic enzymes represents an environmentally friendly and economic alternative to the chemical synthesis of pheromones that are used in insect pest management strategies.

Functional characterisation of two Δ12-desaturases demonstrates targeted production of linoleic acid as pheromone precursor inNasonia

“…Eukaryotic FADs show the characteristic features of membranebound, oxygen-dependent di-iron-containing enzymes sharing three conserved histidine-rich motifs (histidine boxes) coordinating two iron ions in the active site (Shanklin et al, 1994;Tupec et al, 2017 Fig. 4.…”

“…The number, position and configuration of double bonds are important structural features of fatty acid-derived sex pheromones and contribute to the specificity of the information they convey. Thus, fatty acid desaturases (FADs) introducing double bonds into fatty acid chains are key enzymes for the species specific communication and reproductive success of many insects (Jurenka et al, 2017;Tillman et al, 1999;Tupec et al, 2017). Animals have long been assumed to be missing a crucial type of FAD, which are the Δ12-FADs that can produce linoleic acid [(9Z,12Z)-octadeca-9,12-dienoic acid, C18:2 Δ9,12 ] by introducing a second double bond into oleic acid [(9Z )-octadec-9-enoic acid, C18:1 Δ9 ] at position 12.…”

Sexual attraction: a review of bumblebee male pheromones

“…Furthermore, the similarities/differences in the CLG secretions may also be an inspiration for further research on the evolution of biosynthetic pathways and enzymes participating in the formation of pheromonal components. Specific insect enzymes with unique properties have great biotechnological potential, as shown by Tupec and co-workers [151].…”

Mosaic evolution of molecular pathways for sex pheromone communication in a butterfly

“…We then searched for genes from a second gene family known to be involved in sex pheromone production in B. anynana: fatty acyl reductases (far), which convert fatty-acyl pheromone precursors to alcohol (Liénard et al 2014). While more than 20 FARs have been experimentally characterized from 23 moth and butterfly species, all FARs implicated in moth and butterfly sex pheromone biosynthesis are restricted to a single clade, suggesting that one FAR group was exclusively recruited for pheromone biosynthesis (Tupec et al 2017;2019 and refs therein). In our transcriptome, two reductase contigs were annotated and identified in male and female antennae: enoyl-CoA reductase and fatty-acyl reductase 1, far 1.…”