Functional characterization of Delta9 and omega9 desaturase genes in Mortierella alpina 1S-4 and its derivative mutants.

Cloning and characterization of the Delta9 desaturase (Delta9I) gene of a fungus, Mortierella alpina 1S-4, was previously reported. In this study, two genes encoding Delta9 desaturase homologs were isolated from this fungus. One is a Delta9 desaturase (Delta9II) that exhibits 86% amino acid sequence similarity to Delta9I. Functional analysis involving expression of the encoding gene in Aspergillus oryzae revealed that Delta9II exhibits Delta9 desaturase activity, 18:0 being converted to 18:1Delta9. However, unlike Delta9I, the Delta9II transformant accumulated a low amount of 16:1Delta9. The other homolog is a omega9 desaturase (omega9) that exhibits 56 and 58% amino acid sequence similarity to Delta9I and Delta9II, respectively. On functional analysis with the Aspergillus transformant, it was found that omega9 does not convert 18:0 to 18:1Delta9, but converts 24:0 and 26:0 to 24:1omega9 and 26:1omega9, respectively. On the other hand, Delta9 desaturation-defective mutants characterized by accumulation of 18:0 were derived from M. alpina 1S-4 with a chemical mutagen, and the mutated sites of the Delta9 desaturase genes were identified. The mutation on the Delta9I gene was assumed to cause an amino acid replacement (W136Stop, G265D, and W360Stop) in the mutants (HR222, T4, and ST56), respectively. In these mutants, there was no mutated site on the Delta9II and omega9 genes. Real-time quantitative PCR (RTQ-PCR) analysis revealed that (1) the transcriptional level of the Delta9I gene in HR222 and T4 was much higher than that in the wild strain until the fifth day of the cultivation periods, (2) the Delta9II gene of the mutants was transcribed until the fourth day at the same level as the Delta9I gene of the wild strain, whereas the Delta9II gene of the wild strain was transcribed at a lower level, and (3) the transcriptional level of the omega9 gene in both the mutants and the wild strain was low, i.e., as low as that of the Delta9II gene of the wild strain. In these Delta9 desaturation-defective mutants, Delta9II is likely to play an important role in Delta9 desaturation.