A peroxisomal long-chain acyl-CoA synthetase from Glycine max involved in lipid degradation

PLoS One. 2014 Jul 3;9(7):e100144. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0100144. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

Seed storage oil, in the form of triacylglycerol (TAG), is degraded to provide carbon and energy during germination and early seedling growth by the fatty acid β-oxidation in the peroxisome. Although the pathways for lipid degradation have been uncovered, understanding of the exact involved enzymes in soybean is still limited. Long-chain acyl-CoA synthetase (ACSL) is a critical enzyme that activates free fatty acid released from TAG to form the fatty acyl-CoA. Recent studies have shown the importance of ACSL in lipid degradation and synthesis, but few studies were focused on soybean. In this work, we cloned a ACSL gene from soybean and designated it as GmACSL2. Sequence analysis revealed that GmACSL2 encodes a protein of 733 amino acid residues, which is highly homologous to the ones in other higher plants. Complementation test showed that GmACSL2 could restore the growth of an ACS-deficient yeast strain (YB525). Co-expression assay in Nicotiana benthamiana indicated that GmACSL2 is located at peroxisome. Expression pattern analysis showed that GmACSL2 is highly expressed in germinating seedling and strongly induced 1 day after imbibition, which indicate that GmACSL2 may take part in the seed germination. GmACSL2 overexpression in yeast and soybean hairy root severely reduces the contents of the lipids and fatty acids, compared with controls in both cells, and enhances the β-oxidation efficiency in yeast. All these results suggest that GmACSL2 may take part in fatty acid and lipid degradation. In conclusion, peroxisomal GmACSL2 from Glycine max probably be involved in the lipid degradation during seed germination.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Coenzyme A Ligases / analysis
  • Coenzyme A Ligases / chemistry
  • Coenzyme A Ligases / physiology*
  • Genetic Complementation Test
  • Germination
  • Glycine max / enzymology*
  • Glycine max / genetics
  • Glycine max / metabolism
  • Lipolysis*
  • Metabolic Networks and Pathways
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Nicotiana / genetics
  • Peroxisomes / enzymology*
  • Phylogeny
  • Plants, Genetically Modified
  • Seedlings / enzymology
  • Seedlings / growth & development
  • Seeds / enzymology
  • Seeds / growth & development
  • Sequence Alignment

Substances

  • Coenzyme A Ligases
  • long-chain-fatty-acid-CoA ligase

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Major Science and Technology Projects of China (2013ZX08010–004) and the CAAS (Chinease academy of Agriculture Sciences) Innovation Project. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.