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ω3 Polyunsaturated fatty acids are currently obtained mainly from fisheries; thus, sustainable alternative sources such as oleaginous microorganisms are required. Here, we describe the isolation, characterization, and application of 3 novel ω3 desaturases with ω3 polyunsaturated fatty acid–producing activity at ordinary temperatures (28 °C). First, we selected Pythium sulcatum and Plectospira myriandra after screening for oomycetes with high eicosapentaenoic acid/arachidonic acid ratios and isolated the genes psulω3 and pmd17 , respectively, which encode ω3 desaturases. Subsequent characterization showed that PSULω3 exhibited ω3 desaturase activity on both C18 and C20 ω6 polyunsaturated fatty acids while PMD17 exhibited ω3 desaturase activity exclusively on C20 ω6 polyunsaturated fatty acids. Expression of psulω3 and pmd17 in the arachidonic acid–producer Mortierella alpina resulted in transformants that produced eicosapentaenoic acid/total fatty acid values of 38% and 40%, respectively, at ordinary temperatures. These ω3 desaturases should facilitate the construction of sustainable ω3 polyunsaturated fatty acid sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rhodococcus sp. 2N was found as a 1,3-propanediols-oxidizing strain from soil samples through enrichment culture using 2,2-diethyl-1,3-propanediol (DEPD) as the sole carbon source. The culture condition of the strain 2N was optimized, and the highest activity was observed when 0.3% (w/v) DEPD was added in the culture medium as an inducer. Chiral HPLC analysis of the hydroxyalkanoic acid converted from 2-ethyl-2-methyl-1,3-propanediol (EMPD) revealed that the strain 2N catalyzed the (R)-selective oxidation of EMPD. The reaction products and intermediates from DEPD and EMPD were identified by nuclear magnetic resonance analyses, and the results suggested that only one hydroxymethyl group of the propanediols was converted to carboxy group via two oxidation steps. Under optimized conditions and after a 72-h reaction time, the strain 2N produced 28 mM (4.1 g/L) of 2-(hydroxymethyl)-2-methylbutanoic acid from EMPD with a molar conversion yield of 47% and 65% ee (R). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tetrathionate hydrolase (4THase), a key enzyme of the S4-intermediate (S4I) pathway, was partially purified from marine acidophilic bacterium,Acidithiobacillus thiooxidansstrain SH, and the gene encoding this enzyme (SH-tth) was identified. SH-Tth is a homodimer with a molecular mass of 97 ± 3 kDa, and contains a subunit 52 kDa in size. Enzyme activity was stimulated in the presence of 1 M NaCl, and showed the maximum at pH 3.0. Although 4THases fromA. thiooxidansand the closely relatedAcidithiobacillus caldusstrain have been reported to be periplasmic enzymes, SH-Tth seems to be localized on the outer membrane of the cell, and acts as a peripheral protein. Furthermore, both 4THase activity and SH-Tth proteins were detected in sulfur-grown cells of strain SH. These results suggested that SH-Tth is involved in elemental sulfur-oxidation, which is distinct from sulfur-oxidation in other sulfur-oxidizing strains such asA. thiooxidansandA. caldus. SH-Tth from the marine bacterium exhibited halophilic features distinct from those of the limneticAf-Tth. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]