Catalytic improvement of <em>Micromonas pusilla</em> Δ6 desaturase by alignment based approaches — ASN Events
  1. Schedule
  2. Session 5: Poster Session A
  3. Catalytic improvement of Micromonas pusilla Δ6 desaturase by alignment based approaches

Catalytic improvement of Micromonas pusilla Δ6 desaturase by alignment based approaches (#161)

Dongdi Li 1 , Thomas Vanhercke 2 , James R Petrie 2 , Surinder P Singh 2 , Colin J Jackson 1
  1. Research School of Chemistry, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia
  2. CSIRO Food Futures National Research Flagship, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia

The identification of an ω3-specific Δ6 desaturase in the marine algae Micromonas pusilla CCMP1545 (MpD6Des) has the potential to allow sustainable plant-based ω3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (ω3 PUFAs) production. However, improving its expression level and catalytic activity level may allow higher levels of ω3 PUFA production in recombinant plants. In the absence of three-dimension structure, the optimization of MpD6Des the engineering options are limited. Here, we utilized protein alignment based approaches, particularly ancestral reconstruction and consensus mutagenesis. Significant improvement in the ω3-specific desaturase activity has been achieved and mutational hot-spots in the protein have been identified. This result could lead to greater understanding of this class of enzymes as well as their potential use in genetically modified organisms for ω3 PUFAs production.