The FAD8 gene catalyzes the conversion of diene fatty acids to triene fatty acids and is a key enzyme that determines the synthesis of alpha-linolenic acid. In this study, the full-length cDNAs of FAD8-1, FAD8-2, and FAD8-3 are cloned from Paeonia ostii T. Hong & J. X. Zhang and named as PoFAD8-1, PoFAD8-2, and PoFAD8-3. Their open reading frame is 1203 bp, 1152 bp, and 1353 bp which encoded 400, 371, and 450 amino acids. The molecular weights of the amino acids are 46 kDa, 43 kDa, and 51 kDa while the isoelectric points are 7.34, 8.74, and 9.23, respectively. Bioinformatics analysis shows that all three genes are hydrophobic-hydrophobic, PoFAD8-1 has three transmembrane domains, and PoFAD8-2 and PoFAD8-3 have two transmembrane domains. Multiple series alignment and phylogenetic analysis revealed that PoFAD8-1 and PoFAD8-2 are closely related while PoFAD8-3 is more closely related to Paeonia delavayi. Subcellular localization results showed that PoFAD8-1 was located on the ER membrane and PoFAD8-2 and PoFAD8-3 were located on the chloroplast membrane. The relative expression level of PoFAD8-1 in seeds is very high. PoFAD8-2 expressed more in the ovary than the other two genes. PoFAD8-3 was highly expressed in roots, stems, leaves, petals, and ovaries.
Keywords: FAD8; Paeonia ostii; bioinformatics; quantitative real-time PCR; subcellular localization.