the biosynthetic pathways of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids consist of many steps controlled by various enzymes. one of the methods for improving oil quality is to change the fatty acid profile through genetic manipulation which requires isolation and characterization of the genes and other cis-acting elements, such as the promoter, involved in fatty acid biosynthesis. b-ketoacyl-coa syn...

C75, a synthetic inhibitor of FAS (fatty acid synthase), has both anti-tumour and anti-obesity properties. In this study we provide a detailed kinetic characterization of the mechanism of in vitro inhibition of rat liver FAS. At room temperature, C75 is a competitive irreversible inhibitor of the overall reaction with regard to all three substrates, i.e. acetyl-CoA, malonyl-CoA and NADPH, exhib...

The ThYme (Thioester-active enzYme; http://www.enzyme.cbirc.iastate.edu) database has been constructed to bring together amino acid sequences and 3D (tertiary) structures of all the enzymes constituting the fatty acid synthesis and polyketide synthesis cycles. These enzymes are active on thioester-containing substrates, specifically those that are parts of the acyl-CoA synthase, acyl-CoA carbox...

3-ketoacyl-CoA synthase catalyses the initial condensation reaction during fatty acid elongation using malonyl-CoA and long-chain acyl-CoA as substrates. Previously, it was reported that several genes encoding putative cotton 3-ketoacyl-CoA synthases were significantly up-regulated during early cotton fibre development. In this study, GhCER6 cDNA that contains an open reading frame of 1479 bp, ...

Methyl-branched fatty acids and polyketides occur in a variety of living organisms. Previous studies have established that multifunctional enzymes use methylmalonyl coenzyme A (CoA) as the substrate to generate methyl-branched products such as mycocerosic acids and polyketides. However, we do not know which of the component activities show selectivity for methylmalonyl-CoA in any biological sys...

The gl8 gene is required for the normal accumulation of cuticular waxes on maize (Zea mays) seedling leaves. The predicted GL8 protein exhibits significant sequence similarity to a class of enzymes that catalyze the reduction of a ketone group to a hydroxyl group. Polyclonal antibodies raised against the recombinant Escherichia coli-expressed GL8 protein were used to investigate the function of...

Ketoacyl synthases (KSs) catalyze condensing reactions combining acyl-CoA or acylacyl carrier protein (ACP) with malonyl-CoA to form 3-ketoacyl-CoA, or with malonyl-ACP to form 3-ketoacyl-ACP. In each case the resulting acyl chain is two carbon atoms longer than before, and CO2 and either CoA or ACP are formed. KSs also join other activated molecules in the polyketide synthesis cycle. Our class...

Fatty acid b-oxidation occurs in both mitochondria and peroxisomes. Long chain fatty acids are also metabolized by the cytochrome P450 CYP4A v-oxidation enzymes to toxic dicarboxylic acids (DCAs) that serve as substrates for peroxisomal b-oxidation. Synthetic peroxisome proliferators interact with peroxisome proliferator activated receptor a (PPARa) to transcriptionally activate genes that part...

A beta-lactone isolated from Fusarium sp. has been shown to be a potent specific inhibitor of the enzyme 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) synthase [(S)-3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA acetoacetyl-CoA-lyase (CoA-acetylating), EC, 4.1.3.5] from rat liver. The structure of this beta-lactone, termed L-659,699, is (E,E)-11-[3-(hydroxy-methyl)-4-oxo-2-oxytanyl]-3,5,7-trimethyl-2,4 - und...

Several years of extensive research using the new powerful techniques of molecular biology have enabled the direct comparison of functionally or evolutionarily related genes and their products at the nucleotide and amino acid sequence levels. Two types of synthase with similar functions are discussed as an interesting example. Stilbene synthases, e.g. resveratrol synthase, produce the stilbene ...