Preprint Review Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Assessment of Fatty Acid Desaturase (Fads2) Structure-Function Properties in Fish in the Context of Environmental adaptations and as a Target for Genetic Engineering

Version 1 : Received: 26 January 2020 / Approved: 28 January 2020 / Online: 28 January 2020 (04:39:09 CET)

A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.

Bláhová, Z.; Harvey, T.N.; Pšenička, M.; Mráz, J. Assessment of Fatty Acid Desaturase (Fads2) Structure-Function Properties in Fish in the Context of Environmental Adaptations and as a Target for Genetic Engineering. Biomolecules 2020, 10, 206. Bláhová, Z.; Harvey, T.N.; Pšenička, M.; Mráz, J. Assessment of Fatty Acid Desaturase (Fads2) Structure-Function Properties in Fish in the Context of Environmental Adaptations and as a Target for Genetic Engineering. Biomolecules 2020, 10, 206.

Abstract

Fatty acid desaturase 2 (Fads2) is the key enzyme of long chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (LC-PUFA) biosynthesis. Endogenous production of these biomolecules in vertebrates, if present, is insufficient to meet demand. Hence, LC-PUFA are considered as conditionally-essential. At present however, LC-PUFA are globally-limited nutrients due to anthropogenic factors. Attention of research is given therefore to find ways to maximize endogenous LC-PUFA production especially in production species, whereby deeper knowledge on molecular mechanisms of enzymatic steps involved is being generated. This review first briefly informs about the milestones in the history of LC-PUFA essentiality exploration before it focuses on the main aim – to highlight the fascinating Fads2 potential to play roles fundamental to adaptation to novel environmental conditions. Investigations are summarized, which elucidate the evolutionary history of fish Fads2 providing an explanation for the remarkable plasticity of this enzyme in fish. Further, structural implications of Fads2 substrate specificity are discussed and some relevant studies performed on organisms other than fish are mentioned in cases when such studies have so far not been conducted on fish models. The importance of Fads2 in the context of growing aquaculture demand and dwindling LC-PUFA supply is depicted and a few remedies in the form of genetic engineering to improve endogenous production of these biomolecules are outlined.

Keywords

fatty acyl desaturase; Δ6 - desaturase; long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid; LC-PUFA; ω3; ω6; EPA; DHA; AA; essential fatty acid; health; fish; transgene

Subject

Biology and Life Sciences, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Comments (0)

We encourage comments and feedback from a broad range of readers. See criteria for comments and our Diversity statement.

Leave a public comment
Send a private comment to the author(s)
* All users must log in before leaving a comment
Views 0
Downloads 0
Comments 0


×
Alerts
Notify me about updates to this article or when a peer-reviewed version is published.
We use cookies on our website to ensure you get the best experience.
Read more about our cookies here.