Isolation and Characterization of the Diatom Phaeodactylum Δ5-Elongase Gene for Transgenic LC-PUFA Production in Pichia pastoris

The diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum can accumulate eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) up to 30% of the total fatty acids. This species has been targeted for isolating gene encoding desaturases and elongases for long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (LC-PUFA) metabolic engineering. Here we first report the cloning and characterization of Δ5-elongase gene in P. tricornutum. A full-length cDNA sequence, designated PhtELO5, was shown to contain a 1110 bp open reading frame encoding a 369 amino acid polypeptide. The putative protein contains seven transmembrane regions and two elongase characteristic motifs of FLHXYHH and MYSYY, the latter being typical for microalgal Δ5-elongases. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that PhtELO5 belongs to the ELO5 group, tightly clustered with the counterpart of Thalassiosira pseudonana. Heterologous expression of PhtELO5 in Pichia pastoris confirmed that it encodes a specific Δ5-elongase capable of elongating arachidonic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid. Co-expression of PhtELO5 and IsFAD4 (a ∆4-desaturase from Isochrysis sphaerica) demonstrated that the high-efficiency biosynthetic pathway of docosahexaenoic acid was assembled in the transgenic yeast. Substrate competition revealed that PhtELO5 exhibited higher activity towards n-3 PUFA than n-6 PUFA. It is hypothesized that Phaeodactylum ELO5 may preferentially participate in biosynthesis of transgenic LC-PUFA via a n-3 pathway in the yeast host.