A novel Tetrahymena thermophila sterol C-22 desaturase belongs to the fatty acid hydroxylase/desaturase superfamily.

ABSTRACT: Sterols in eukaryotic cells play important roles in modulating membrane fluidity and in cell signaling and trafficking. During evolution, a combination of gene losses and acquisitions gave rise to an extraordinary diversity of sterols in different organisms. The sterol C-22 desaturase identified in plants and fungi as a cytochrome P-450 monooxygenase evolved from the first eukaryotic cytochrome P450 and was lost in many lineages. Although the ciliate Tetrahymena thermophila desaturates sterols at the C-22 position, no cytochrome P-450 orthologs are present in the genome. Here, we aim to identify the genes responsible for the desaturation as well as their probable origin. We used gene knockout and yeast heterologous expression approaches to identify two putative genes, retrieved from a prev

SUBMITTER: Sanchez Granel ML 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9485055 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature