Synthesis of Unsaturated Fatty Acids in Chick Embryo Liver

Abstract

Oxidation, synthesis, and desaturation of fatty acids were assessed in chick embryos and embryonic liver. No differences in the oxidation of palmitate-1-14C and oleate-1-14C by intact embryos and embryo-liver homogenates were found. De novo fatty acid synthesis and microsomal elongation of fatty acids were detected in embryo-liver homogenates, but the activities were low as compared with chick liver. The specific activities of the mitochondrial system of fatty acid elongation were similar in embryo and chick liver. Stimulation of the desaturation of stearic acid was achieved by the substitution of glucose for fatty acids in the culture medium and abolished by the addition of cyclopropene fatty acids to the medium. The hypothesis is advanced that in chick embryos, the rate of desaturation of fatty acids synthesized de novo is less than that of postembryonic liver, and that as a consequence, the liver of embryos cannot maintain the proportion of unsaturated to saturated fatty acids found in yolk.