The high-level accumulation of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in transgenic pigs harboring the n-3 fatty acid desaturase gene from Caenorhabditis briggsae

Transgenic Res. 2014 Feb;23(1):89-97. doi: 10.1007/s11248-013-9752-1. Epub 2013 Sep 19.

Abstract

Livestock meat is generally low in n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), which are beneficial to human health. An alternative approach to increasing the levels of n-3 PUFAs in meat is to generate transgenic livestock animals. In this study, we describe the generation of cloned pigs that express the cbr-fat-1 gene from Caenorhabditis briggsae, encoding an n-3 fatty acid desaturase. Analysis of fatty acids demonstrated that the cbr-fat-1 transgenic pigs produced high levels of n-3 fatty acids from n-6 analogs; consequently, a significantly reduced ratio of n-6/n-3 fatty acids was observed. We demonstrated that the n-3 desaturase gene from C. briggsae was functionally expressed, and had a significant effect on the fatty acid composition of the transgenic pigs, which may allow the production of pork enriched in n-3 PUFAs.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Animals, Genetically Modified
  • Caenorhabditis / enzymology
  • Caenorhabditis / genetics*
  • Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / genetics*
  • Fatty Acid Desaturases / genetics*
  • Fatty Acids, Omega-3 / genetics
  • Fatty Acids, Omega-3 / metabolism*
  • Humans
  • Swine / genetics
  • Swine / metabolism*

Substances

  • Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins
  • Fatty Acids, Omega-3
  • fat-1 protein, C elegans
  • Fatty Acid Desaturases