Production of C20 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) by pathway engineering: identification of a PUFA elongase component from Caenorhabditis elegans

Abstract

Using a combination of database-mining and functional characterization, we have identified a component of the polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) elongase. Co-expression of this elongating activitiy with fatty acid desaturases has allowed us to heterologously reconstitute the PUFA biosynthetic pathway. Both these enzymes (desaturases and elongase components) have undergone gene-duplication events which provide a paradigm for the diverged nature of PUFA biosynthetic activities.