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Involvement of a bifunctional fatty-acyl desaturase in the biosynthesis of the silkmoth, Bombyx mori , sex pheromone

2004; National Academy of Sciences; Volume: 101; Issue: 23 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1073/pnas.0402056101

1091-6490

Ken’ichi Moto, Masataka G. Suzuki, J. Joe Hull, Ryuichiro Kurata, Shunya Takahashi, Masanobu Yamamoto, Kazuhiro Okano, Kiyohiro Imai, Tetsu Ando, Shogo Matsumoto,

Insect Pheromone Research and Control

The straight-chain C 10 to C 18 unsaturated aliphatic compounds containing an oxygenated functional group (aldehyde, alcohol, or acetate ester) derived from saturated C 16 or C 18 fatty acids are a major class of sex pheromone components produced by female moths. In the biosynthesis of these pheromone components, various combinations of limited chain-shortening and regio- and stereospecific desaturation reactions significantly contribute to the production of a vast number of the species-specific pheromone components in Lepidoptera. Biosynthesis of the silkmoth sex pheromone bombykol, ( E,Z )-10,12-hexadecadien-1-ol, involves two consecutive desaturation steps, the second of which is unique in that it generates a conjugated diene system from the Δ11-monoene C 16 intermediate. In experiments designed to characterize the acyl-CoA desaturases responsible for bombykol biosynthesis, we have cloned three cDNAs encoding desaturase family members from the pheromone gland of the inbred strain of the silkmoth, Bombyx mori . Transcript analyses by RT-PCR and subsequent functional assays using a Bac-to-Bac baculovirus expression system revealed that desat1 is the only desaturase gene prominently expressed during pheromonogenesis and that its gene product, B. mori Desat1, possesses both Z11 desaturation and Δ10,12-desaturation activities. Consequently, we have concluded that B. mori Desat1 is not only a bifunctional desaturase involved in bombykol biosynthesis but that it is also the enzyme responsible for both desaturation steps.