Retention of fatty acyl desaturase 1 (fads1) in Elopomorpha and Cyclostomata provides novel insights into the evolution of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid biosynthesis in vertebrates 06 Biological Sciences 0604 Genetics 06 Biological Sciences 0601 Biochemistry and Cell Biology 06 Biological Sciences 0603 Evolutionary Biology

• Published in: BMC Evolutionary Biology
• Main Authors: Lopes-Marques M., Kabeya N., Qian Y., Ruivo R., Santos M.M., Venkatesh B., Tocher D.R., Castro L.F.C., Monroig O.
• Other Authors: CIIMAR - Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: BMC 2018
• Subjects: Actinopterygii; Elopomorpha; Lepisosteus oculatus; Lethenteron japonicum; Osteoglossomorpha; Teleostei; Vertebrata; acyl coenzyme A desaturase; unsaturated fatty acid; amino acid sequence; animal; biosynthesis; chemistry; fish; genetics; metabolism; molecular evolution; phylogeny; sequence homology; Animals; Evolution; Molecular; Fatty Acid Desaturases; Fatty Acids; Unsaturated; Fishes; Nucleic Acid; Arctic; Gar’
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10216/120486; https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-018-1271-5

Background: Provision of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA) in vertebrates occurs through the diet or via endogenous production from C18 precursors through consecutive elongations and desaturations. It has been postulated that the abundance of LC-PUFA in the marine environment has remarkably modulated the gene complement and function of Fads in marine teleosts. In vertebrates two fatty acyl desaturases, namely Fads1 and Fads2, encode 5 and 6 desaturases, respectively. To fully clarify the evolutionary history of LC-PUFA biosynthesis in vertebrates, we investigated the gene repertoire and function of Fads from species placed at key evolutionary nodes. Results: We demonstrate that functional Fads1Δ5 and Fads26 arose from a tandem gene duplication in the ancestor of vertebrates, since they are present in the Arctic lamprey. Additionally, we show that a similar condition was retained in ray-finned fish such as the Senegal bichir and spotted gar, with the identification of fads1 genes in these lineages. Functional characterisation of the isolated desaturases reveals the first case of a Fads1 enzyme with 5 desaturase activity in the Teleostei lineage, the Elopomorpha. In contrast, in Osteoglossomorpha genomes, while no fads1 was identified, two separate fads2 duplicates with 6 and 5 desaturase activities respectively were uncovered. Conclusions: We conclude that, while the essential genetic components involved LC-PUFA biosynthesis evolved in the vertebrate ancestor, the full completion of the LC-PUFA biosynthesis pathway arose uniquely in gnathostomes. © 2018 The Author(s). We acknowledge Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia for the support to M.L.-M (SFRH/BD/84238/2012). LFCC research is supported by Norte2020 and FEDER (Coral - Sustainable Ocean Exploitation - Norte-01-0145-FEDER-000036) a project supported by the North Portugal Regional Operational Program (NORTE 2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The funding bodies played ...