Novel Plant Acyltransferases Specific for Long-Chained, Multiply Unsaturated Fatty Acids

Abstract

The invention relates to a process for the production of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids in an organism by introducing, into the organism, nucleic acids coding for polypeptides with acyltransferase activity. These nucleic acid sequences, if appropriate together with further nucleic acid sequences coding for polypeptides of the fatty acid or lipid metabolism biosynthesis, can advantageously be expressed in the organism. Furthermore, the invention relates to a method for the production of oils and/or triacylglycerides with an elevated content of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids. The invention furthermore relates to the nucleic acid sequences, and constructs, vectors and organisms comprising the nucleic acid sequences. A further part of the invention relates to oils, lipids and/or fatty acids produced by the process according to the invention and to their use.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A process for the production of polyunsaturated fatty acids in an organism, which comprises:
 a) introducing, into an organism, at least one nucleic acid sequence comprising:   i) the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1, SEQ ID NO: 3, SEQ ID NO: 4, SEQ ID NO: 6, SEQ ID NO: 7, SEQ ID NO: 9, SEQ ID NO: 11, SEQ ID NO: 13, SEQ ID NO: 14, SEQ ID NO: 16, SEQ ID NO: 18, SEQ ID NO: 20, SEQ ID NO: 22, SEQ ID NO: 24, SEQ ID NO: 26, SEQ ID NO: 28, SEQ ID NO: 30, SEQ ID NO: 32, SEQ ID NO: 34 or SEQ ID NO: 36;   ii) a sequence encoding a polypeptide comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2, SEQ ID NO: 5, SEQ ID NO: 8, SEQ ID NO: 10, SEQ ID NO: 12, SEQ ID NO: 15, SEQ ID NO: 17, SEQ ID NO: 19, SEQ ID NO: 21, SEQ ID NO: 23, SEQ ID NO: 25, SEQ ID NO: 27, SEQ ID NO: 29, SEQ ID NO: 31, SEQ ID NO: 33, SEQ ID NO: 35 or SEQ ID NO: 37; or   iii) a sequence encoding a polypeptide having at least 40% sequence identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2, SEQ ID NO: 5, SEQ ID NO: 8, SEQ ID NO: 10, SEQ ID NO: 12, SEQ ID NO: 15, SEQ ID NO: 17, SEQ ID NO: 19, SEQ ID NO: 21, SEQ ID NO: 23, SEQ ID NO: 25, SEQ ID NO: 27, SEQ ID NO: 29, SEQ ID NO: 31, SEQ ID NO: 33, SEQ ID NO: 35 or SEQ ID NO: 37 and having an equivalent enzymatic activity as the polypeptide comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2, SEQ ID NO: 5, SEQ ID NO: 8, SEQ ID NO: 10, SEQ ID NO: 12, SEQ ID NO: 15, SEQ ID NO: 17, SEQ ID NO: 19, SEQ ID NO: 21, SEQ ID NO: 23, SEQ ID NO: 25, SEQ ID NO: 27, SEQ ID NO: 29, SEQ ID NO: 31, SEQ ID NO: 33, SEQ ID NO: 35 or SEQ ID NO: 37;   and   b) culturing and harvesting said organism.