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doi:10.1534/genetics.107.071860
A more recent version of this article appeared on June 1, 2007.
REGULAR RESEARCH PAPERS |
Fatty Acid Desaturation and the Regulation of Adiposity in Caenorhabditis elegans
Trisha J. Brock 1, John Browse 1 and Jennifer L. Watts 1*
1 Washington State University
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: jwatts{at}mail.wsu.edu.
Submitted on February 20, 2007
Revised on March 27, 2007
Accepted on 27 March 2007
Monounsaturated fatty acids are essential components of membrane and storage lipids. Their synthesis depends on the conversion of saturated fatty acids to unsaturated fatty acids by delta-9 desaturases. Caenorhabditis elegans has three D9 desaturases encoded by the genes fat-5, fat-6, and fat-7. We generated nematodes that display a range of altered fatty acid compositions by constructing double-mutant strains that combine mutations in fat-5, fat-6, and fat-7. All three double mutant combinations have reduced survival at low temperatures. The fat-5;fat-6 double mutants display relatively subtle fatty acid composition alterations under standard conditions, but extreme fatty acid composition changes and reduced survival in the absence of food. The strain with the most severe defect in the production of unsaturated fatty acids, fat-6;fat-7, exhibits slow growth and reduced fertility. Strikingly, the fat-6;fat-7 double mutant animals have decreased fat stores and increased expression of genes involved in fatty acid oxidation. We conclude that the D9 desaturases, in addition to synthesizing unsaturated fatty acids for properly functioning membranes, play key roles in lipid partitioning and in the regulation of fat storage.
Key Words: obesity, stearoyl-CoA desaturase, unsaturated fatty acids
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