Cloning and Functional Analysis of the FAD2 Gene Family from Desert Shrub Artemisia sphaerocephala
Abstract Background: Linoleic acid is an important polyunsaturated fatty acid, required for all eukaryotes. Microsomal delta-12 (Δ12) oleate desaturase (FAD2) is a key enzyme for linoleic acid biosynthesis. Desert shrub Artemisia sphaerocephala is rich in linoleic acid, it has a large FAD2 gene family with twenty-six members. The objective of this work is to study the difference and potentially functionality of AsFAD2 family members. Results: Full-length cDNAs of twenty-one AsFAD2 genes were obtained from A. sphaerocephala. The putative polypeptides encoded by AsFAD2 family genes showed a high level of sequence similarity and were relatively conserved during evolution. The motif composition was relatively conservative. Quantitative real-time PCR analysis revealed that the AsFAD2-1 gene was strongly expressed in developing seeds, which may be closely associated with the high accumulating ability of linoleic acid in A. sphaerocephala seeds. Although different AsFAD2 family members showed diverse response to salt stress, the overall mRNA levels of the AsFAD2 family genes was stable, suggesting that the AsFAD2 family may play an important role in the adaptation of A. sphaerocephala to the harsh desert environment. Transient expression of AsFAD2 genes in the Nicotiana benthamiana leaves revealed that the encoded proteins were all located in the endoplasmic reticulum. Heterologous expression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae suggested that only three AsFAD2 enzymes, AsFAD2-1, -10, and -23, were Δ12 oleate desaturases, which could convert oleic acid to linoleic acid, whereas AsFAD2-1 and AsFAD2-10 could also produce palmitolinoleic acid. Conclusions: This research reported the cloning, expression studies, subcellular localization and functional identification of the large AsFAD2 gene family. These results should be helpful in understanding of fatty acid biosynthesis in A. sphaerocephala, and can be applied in the study of plant fatty acids traits.