Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Biochemical Journal logoLink to Biochemical Journal
. 1980 Jun 15;188(3):585–592. doi: 10.1042/bj1880585

The elongation of exogenous fatty acids and the control of phospholipid acyl chain length in Micrococcus cryophilus.

S P Sandercock, N J Russell
PMCID: PMC1161938  PMID: 7470022

Abstract

The synthesis of fatty acids de novo from acetate and the elongation of exogenous satuated fatty acids (C12-C18) by the psychrophilic bacterium Micrococcus cryophilus (A.T.C.C. 15174) grown at 1 or 20 degrees C was investigated. M. cryophilus normally contains only C16 and C18 acyl chains in its phospholipids, and the C18/C16 ratio is altered by changes in growth temperature. The bacterium was shown to regulate strictly its phospholipid acyl chain length and to be capable of directly elongating myristate and palmitate, and possibly laurate, to a mixture of C16 and C18 acyl chains. Retroconversion of stearate into palmitate also occurred. Fatty acid elongation could be distinguished from fatty acid synthesis de novo by the greater sensitivity of fatty acid elongation to inhibition by NaAsO2 under conditions when the supply of ATP and reduced nicotinamide nucleotides was not limiting. It is suggested that phospholipid acyl chain length may be controlled by a membrane-bound elongase enzyme, which interconverts C16 and C18 fatty acids via a C14 intermediate; the activity of the enzyme could be regulated by membrane lipid fluidity.

Full text

PDF
585

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Bretscher M. S., Raff M. C. Mammalian plasma membranes. Nature. 1975 Nov 6;258(5530):43–49. doi: 10.1038/258043a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Cronan J. E., Jr Molecular biology of bacterial membrane lipids. Annu Rev Biochem. 1978;47:163–189. doi: 10.1146/annurev.bi.47.070178.001115. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. ELLS H. A. A colorimetric method for the assay of soluble succinic dehydrogenase and pyridinenucleotide-linked dehydrogenases. Arch Biochem Biophys. 1959 Dec;85:561–562. doi: 10.1016/0003-9861(59)90527-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. GARBUS J., DELUCA H. F., LOOMANS M. E., STRONG F. M. The rapid incorporation of phosphate into mitochondrial lipids. J Biol Chem. 1963 Jan;238:59–63. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Harris R. V., James A. T. The fatty acid metabolism of Chlorella vulgaris. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1965 Dec 2;106(3):465–473. doi: 10.1016/0005-2760(65)90063-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Harwood J. L., Stumpf P. K. Fat metabolism in higher plants. 43. Control of fatty acid synthesis in germinating seeds. Arch Biochem Biophys. 1971 Jan;142(1):281–291. doi: 10.1016/0003-9861(71)90285-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Libertini L. J., Smith S. Purification and properties of a thioesterase from lactating rat mammary gland which modifies the product specificity of fatty acid synthetase. J Biol Chem. 1978 Mar 10;253(5):1393–1401. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Malcolm N. L. Synthesis of protein and ribonucleic acid in a psychrophile at normal and restrictive growth temperatures. J Bacteriol. 1968 Apr;95(4):1388–1399. doi: 10.1128/jb.95.4.1388-1399.1968. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Nunn W. D., Simons R. W. Transport of long-chain fatty acids by Escherichia coli: mapping and characterization of mutants in the fadL gene. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1978 Jul;75(7):3377–3381. doi: 10.1073/pnas.75.7.3377. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Odriozola J. M., Ramos J. A., Bloch K. Fatty acid synthetase activity in Mycobacterium smegmatis. Characterization of the acyl carrier protein-dependent elongating system. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1977 Aug 24;488(2):207–217. doi: 10.1016/0005-2760(77)90178-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Russell N. J. Alteration in fatty acid chain length in Micrococcus cryophilus grown at different temperatures. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1971 Feb 2;231(1):254–256. doi: 10.1016/0005-2760(71)90277-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Russell N. J. The lipid composition of the psychrophilic bacterium Micrococcus cryophilus. J Gen Microbiol. 1974 Jan;80(1):217–225. doi: 10.1099/00221287-80-1-217. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Singer S. J. The molecular organization of membranes. Annu Rev Biochem. 1974;43(0):805–833. doi: 10.1146/annurev.bi.43.070174.004105. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Biochemical Journal are provided here courtesy of The Biochemical Society

RESOURCES