Basf Plant Science Gmbh

Frederic Domergue

Ernst Heinz

Thorsten Zank

Andreas Renz

Amine Abbadi

Jens Lerchl

Xiao Qiu

Petra Cirpus

Patricia Vrinten

Ulrich Zähringer

Petra Sperling

Jörg Bauer

Astrid Schmidt

Helene Kirsch

Astrid Meyer

Jelena Kirsch

Joerg Bauer

Jorg Bauer

The present invention relates to a process for the production of polyunsaturated fatty acids in an organism by introducing, into the organism, nucleic acids which encode polypeptides with Δ5-elongase activity. Advantageously, these nucleic acids can be expressed in the organism together with further nucleic acids which encode polypeptides of the biosynthesis of the fatty acid or lipid metabolism. Especially advantageous are nucleic acids which encode Δ6-desaturases, Δ5-desaturases, Δ4-desaturases and/or Δ6-elongases. These desaturases and elongases are advantageously derived fromor. The invention furthermore relates to a process for the production of oils and/or triacylglycerides with an elevated content of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, and oils and/or triacylglycerides thus obtained. The invention also relates to the nucleic acids, and constructs, vectors and transgenic organisms comprising the same, as well as oils, lipids and/or fatty acids produced by the process according to the invention and to their use.

Process for the production of polyunsaturated fatty acids in transgenic organisms

The present invention relates to a process for the production of polyunsaturated fatty acids in an organism by introducing, into the organism, nucleic acids which encode polypeptides with &#x394;5-elongase activity. Advantageously, these nucleic acids can be expressed in the organism together with further nucleic acids which encode polypeptides of the biosynthesis of the fatty acid or lipid metabolism. Especially advantageous are nucleic acids which encode &#x394;6-desaturases, &#x394;5-desaturases, &#x394;4-desaturases and/or &#x394;6-elongases. These desaturases and elongases are advantageously derived fromor. The invention furthermore relates to a process for the production of oils and/or triacylglycerides with an elevated content of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, and oils and/or triacylglycerides thus obtained. The invention also relates to the nucleic acids, and constructs, vectors and transgenic organisms comprising the same, as well as oils, lipids and/or fatty acids produced by the process according to the invention and to their use.

Method for the production of multiple-unsaturated fatty acids in transgenic organisms

The invention relates to a method for the production of multiply-unsaturated fatty acids in an organism, into which nucleic acids have been introduced, which code for polypeptides with &#x394;-5 elongase activity. Said nucleic acid sequences, optionally with further nucleic acid sequences, coding for polypeptides for the biosynthesis of fatty acids and lipid metabolism, are advantageously expressed in the organism. Nucleic acid sequences coding for a &#x394;-6 desaturase, a &#x394;-5 desaturase, &#x394;-4 desaturase and/or &#x394;-6 elongase activity are particularly advantageous and, advantageously, said saturases and elongases are derived fromor. The invention further relates to a method for the production of oils and/or triacylglycerides with an increased content of long-chain, multiply-unsaturated fatty acids. A particular embodiment of the invention is a method for the production of unsaturated &#x3c9;-3 fatty acids and a method for the production of triglycerides with an increased content of unsaturated fatty acids, in particular, of &#x394;-3 fatty acids with more than three double bonds. Also disclosed is the production of a transgenic organism, preferably a transgenic plant, or a transgenic microorganism with increased content of &#x3c9;-3 fatty acids, oils or lipids with &#x3c9;-3 double bonds as a result of the expression of the elongases and desaturases employed in the above method, preferably in combination with &#x3c9;-3 desaturases, for example a &#x3c9;-3 desaturase from fungi of the family Pythiaceae such as the genus, for example, the genus and species, or a &#x3c9;-3 desaturase from algae such as the family Prasinophyceae, for example, the genusand, particularly, the genus and speciesor diatomace&#xe6; such as the genusand, particularly, the genus and species. The invention also relates to the nucleic acid sequences, nucleic acid constructs, vectors and organisms containing the nucleic acid sequences and/or the nucleic acid constructs and transgenic organisms containing said nucleic acid sequences, nucleic acid constructs and/or vectors. A further part of the invention relates to oils, lipids and/or fatty acids produced according to the above method and use thereof and, furthermore, unsaturated fatty acids and triglycerides with an increased content of unsaturated fatty acids and use thereof.

The present invention relates to a method for the production of unsaturated fatty acids with at least two double bonds. The invention furthermore relates to the use of nucleic acid sequences SEQ ID NO: 1, 3, 5, 9, and 11 encoding polypeptides having desaturase or elongase activity in the method and for generating a transgenic organism, preferably a transgenic plant or a transgenic microorganism, with an increased content of fatty acids, oils or lipids with unsaturated C-, C-, or C-fatty acids, and to their homologs or derivatives, to gene constructs encompassing these genes, and to their use alone or in combination with biosynthesis genes of polyunsaturated fatty acids. The invention also relates to multiexpression cassettes for seed-specific expression, and to vectors or organisms which encompass a desaturase gene alone or in combination with further desaturases and/or elongase genes or homologs using said expression cassettes.

Production of polyunsaturated fatty acids, novel biosynthesis genes, and novel plant expression constructs

The present invention relates to a process for producing polyunsaturated fatty acids in an organism by introducing nucleic acids into the organism which code for polypeptides having acyl-CoA:lysophospholipid a cyltransferase activity. Advantageously, these nucleic acid sequences may, if appropriate together with further nucleic acid sequences coding for biosynthesis polypeptides of the fatty acid or lipid metabolism, be expressed in the transgenic organism. The invention furthermore relates to the nucleic acid sequences, to nucleic acid constructs comprising the nucleic acid sequences of the invention, to vectors comprising the nucleic acid sequences and/or the nucleic acid constructs and to transgenic organisms comprising the abovementioned nucleic acid sequences, nucleic acid constructs and/or vectors. A further part of the invention relates to oils, lipids and/or fatty acids produced by the process of the invention and to their use.

Method for the production of polyunsaturated fatty acids

The present invention relates to a method for the production of unsaturated fatty acids with at least two double bonds. The invention furthermore relates to the use of nucleic acid sequences SEQ ID NO: 1, SEQ ID NO: 3, SEQ ID NO: 5 and SEQ ID NO: 11 encoding polypeptides having desaturase activity in the method and for generating a transgenic organism, preferably a transgenic plant or a transgenic microorganism, with an increased content of fatty acids, oils or lipids with unsaturated C-, C-, or C-fatty acids, and to their homologs or derivatives, to gene constructs encompassing these genes, and to their use alone or in combination with biosynthesis genes of polyunsaturated fatty acids. The invention also relates to multiexpression cassettes for seed-specific expression, and to vectors or organisms which encompass a desaturase gene alone or in combination with further desaturases and/or elongase genes or homologs using said expression cassettes.

The present invention relates to a method for the production of unsaturated fatty acids with at least two double bonds. The invention further relates to the use of the nucleic acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1 encoding a polypeptide having delta-5 desaturase activity in the method and for generating a transgenic organism, preferably a transgenic plant or microorganism with an increased content of fatty acids, oil or lipids with unsaturated long chain fatty acids, to their homologs or derivatives, and to gene constructs encompassing these genes. The invention also relates to the use of the nucleic acid sequences alone or in combination with further desaturases and/or elongase genes in the method and for generating transgenic organisms.

Growing community of inventors

Hamburg, Germany

Frederic Domergue