Intellectual Property Office

Non-Confidential Disclosures

“A Unique Acyl-Acyl Carrier Protein Fatty Acid Desaturase Gene from Pelargonium”

PSU Invention Disclosure No. 1468
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Key Words:

Horticulture and Entomology

Links:

Inventor Website
News Articles
US Patent No. 5,856,157

Inventors:

Richard Craig, David Schultz, June Medford, R.O. Mumma, Diana Cox-Foster

Background:

The common garden geranium (Pelargonium xhortorum) is naturally resistant to certain insect pests including spider mites and aphids. The biochemical responsible for this resistance is a class of secondary compounds known as anacardic acids (6-alkyl salicylic acid). Specifically, resistance is due to the presence of 22:ω5 and 24:1ω5 anacardic acids. Novel Delta11 16:1and Delta13 18:1fatty acids are precursors to the 22:1ω5 and 24:1ω5 anacardic acids, respectively. These observations led to the search for a unique fatty acid desaturase enzyme responsible for the production of the novel fatty acids, the ω5 anacardic acids, and ultimately, pest resistance in geraniums.

Invention description:

A novel plant fatty acid desaturase gene and the associated enzyme responsible for formation of the novel 16:1 Delta11 and 18:1Delta13 fatty acids has been identified, sequenced and characterized. The gene codes for a Delta9 14:0-ACP fatty acid desaturase. This enzyme places a double bond at the Delta9 position of 14:0-ACP fatty acid substrate thereby producing the Delta9 14:1 unsaturated fatty acid. Many plants, including geraniums, efficiently elongate this unsaturated fatty acid to two unique fatty acids, Delta11 16:1 and Delta13 18:1. In geraniums, these two unique fatty acids are further processed by known pathways to form 22:1ω5 and 24:1ω5 anacardic acids. The Delta9 14:0-ACP fatty acid desaturase gene has been cloned into E. coli. The resulting recombinant protein has similar enzyme activity in E. coli as it has in geraniums. E. coli expressing the cloned desaturase gene produce Delta9 14:1 fatty acid which does not accumulate, but rather is efficiently elongated to form two unsaturated fatty acids, Delta11 16:1 and Delta13 18:1, which do accumulate. These two fatty acids do not occur naturally in E. coli

Advantages:

• Modifying the fatty acid and oil composition of economically important seed crops including soybeans, rapeseed, corn, sunflower, safflower, cotton, peanut, coconut and palm.
• Increasing the unsaturated fatty acid content of economically important seed crops.
• Modifying pest resistance in plants.
• Designing/engineering non-edible oils.

Contact:

Ronald J. Huss, Ph.D.
Associate Vice President for Research and
Technology Transfer and
Director, Intellectual Property Office
The Pennsylvania State University
113 Technology Center
University Park, PA 16802-7000
Phone: (814) 863-5988
Fax: (814) 865-3591
E-mail: rjh22@psu.edu