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Aquilegia vulgaris seed oil contains high levels of the rare fatty acid columbinic acid (18:3 Delta(5,9,12)), which is unusual in having the double bond at the Delta(5) carbon in the trans configuration. Columbinic acid was found to be a seed-specific fatty acid not only present in the storage oil but also in membrane lipids. Several putative gene fragments have been isolated from plant RNA with sequences similar to previously characterized 'front-end' desaturases. Functional characterization of the Aquilegia cDNA is underway.

The past few years have witnessed a major upsurge in research towards the goal of modifying the lipid composition of plants. Genes encoding a range of different fatty acid desaturase activities have been cloned, and the evolutionary relationships between and within different classes of enzymes have tentatively been established. The effects of expressing some of these desaturases in heterologous hosts have also been studied, often producing unexpected results which contribute further to our understanding of plant lipid modification. It is to be hoped that, in the near future, the goal of producing unusual and valuable fatty acids in transgenic oilseeds will be achieved on a commercial scale.

Embryos of Cuphea lanceolata have more than 80 mol% of decanoic acid ('capric acid') in their triacylglycerols, while this fatty acid is virtually absent in phosphatidylcholine (PtdCho). Seed development was complete 25-27 days after pollination, with rapid triacylglycerol deposition occurring between 9 and 24 days. PtdCho amounts increased until day 15 after pollination. Analysis of embryo lipids showed that the diacylglycerol (DAG) pool consisted of mainly long-chain molecular species, with a very small amount of mixed medium-chain/long-chain glycerols. Almost 100% of the fatty acid at position sn-2 in triacylglycerols (TAG) was decanoic acid. When equimolar mixtures of [14C]decanoic and [14C]oleic acid were fed to whole detached embryos, over half of the radioactivity in the DAG resided in [14C]oleate, whereas [14C]decanoic acid accounted for 93% of the label in the TAG. Microsomal preparations from developing embryos at the mid-stage of TAG accumulation catalysed the acylation of [14C]glycerol 3-phosphate with either decanoyl-CoA or oleoyl-CoA, resulting in the formation of phosphatidic acid (PtdOH), DAG and TAG. Very little [14C]glycerol entered PtdCho. In combined incubations, with an equimolar supply of [14C]oleoyl-CoA and [14C]decanoyl-CoA in the presence of glycerol 3-phosphate, the synthesized PtdCho species consisted to 95% of didecanoic and dioleic species. The didecanoyl-glycerols were very selectively utilized over the dioleoylglycerols in the production of TAG. Substantial amounts of [14C]oleate, but not [14C]decanoate, entered PtdCho. The microsomal preparations of developing embryos were used to assess the acyl specificities of the acyl-CoA:sn-glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase (GPAT, EC 2.3.1.15) and the acyl-CoA:sn-1-acyl-glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase (LPAAT, EC 2.3.1.51) in Cuphea lanceolata embryos. The efficiency of acyl-CoA utilization by the GPAT was in the order decanoyl = dodecanoyl greater than linoleoyl greater than myristoyl = oleoyl greater than palmitoyl. Decanoyl-CoA was the only acyl donor to be utilized to any extent by the LPAAT when sn-decanoylglycerol 3-phosphate was the acyl acceptor. sn-1-Acylglycerol 3-phosphates with acyl groups shorter than 16 carbon atoms did not serve as acyl acceptors for long-chain (greater than or equal to 16 carbon atoms) acyl-CoA species. On the basis of the results obtained, we propose a schematic model for triacylglycerol assembly and PtdCho synthesis in a tissue specialized in the synthesis of high amounts of medium-chain fatty acids.

Laevulinic acid (Lev) was used to control the rate of protocholorophyllide (PChl) regeneration in the leaves of dark-grown seedlings of barley (Hordeum vulgare) after a brief light treatment. In the leaves given Lev, at concentrations that severely block the resynthesis of protochlorophyllide, there was a massive overproduction of delta-aminolaevulinic acid (AmLev) that was well in excess of that required for the regeneration of PChl observed in the control leaves. Lev, at low concentrations, slightly delayed regeneration and held up, rather than inhibited, the utilization of the AmLev, which accumulated in the tissues. The overproduction and uncontrolled formation of AmLev also occurred in dark-grown leaves treated with a high concentration of Lev and given a light treatment of just sufficient energy to photoreduce only small quantities of the endogenous PChl. Experiments in which a high level of free PChl was induced by incubating the leaves in AmLev indicated that the active species of PChl was that associated with, and bound to, the PChl reductase protein. The results strongly demonstrate a close relationship between the PChl-protein complex and the ability of the leaves to synthesize AmLev.

Microsomal membrane preparations from the maturing cotyledons of common borage (Borago officinalis) exhibit delta 12- and delta 6-desaturase activities, which resulted in the synthesis of linoleate and gamma-linolenate respectively. The desaturase enzymes utilized the complex lipid substrate phosphatidylcholine. The activity of these enzymes was sufficiently high to allow the monitoring of the mass changes in the endogenous oleate, linoleate and gamma-linolenate in the microsomal phosphatidylcholine in the presence of NADH (i.e. under desaturating conditions). The results illustrate that the delta 12-desaturase uses the oleate substrate at both the sn-1 and -2 positions of sn-phosphatidylcholine, whereas the delta 6-desaturase is almost totally restricted to the linoleate at position 2 of the complex lipid. Estimate of the acyl-substrate pool size at position 2 of sn-phosphatidylcholine for both desaturases indicated that some 50% of the oleate and linoleate was available to the enzymes. The microsomes (microsomal fractions) had a somewhat impaired Kennedy [(1961) Fed. Proc. Fed. Am. Soc. Exp. Biol. 20, 934-940] pathway for the formation of triacylglycerols when compared with other oil-rich plant species that have been studied [Stymne & Stobart (1987) The Biochemistry of Plants: a Comprehensive Treatise (Stumpf, P.K., ed.), vol. 10, chapter 8, pp. 175-214, Academic Press, New York]. In the presence of sn-glycerol 3-phosphate and acyl-CoA, large quantities of phosphatidic acid accumulated in the membranes. Acyl-selectivity studies on the glycerol-acylating enzymes showed that gamma-linolenate could be acylated to both the sn-1 and sn-2 positions of sn-glycerol 3-phosphate. However, stereochemical analysis of the acyl components of the sn-triacylglycerol obtained from mature seeds indicated that, whereas no gamma-linolenate was present at the sn-1 position, it accounted for over 50% of the fatty acids at position sn-3. The results indicate that the diacylglycerol acyltransferase (EC 2.3.1.20) may show a strong selectivity for gamma-linolenoyl-CoA and hence result in the efficient removal of this fatty acid from the acyl-CoA pool in vivo, leaving negligible substrate for utilization by the sn-glycerol 3-phosphate acyltransferase (EC 2.3.1.15).