Temperature‐induced Changes in the Synthesis of Unsaturated Fatty Acids by Acanthamoeba castellanii

JONES, A.L., PRUITT, N.L., LLOYD, D. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5656-0571 and HARWOOD, J.L. 1991. Temperature‐induced Changes in the Synthesis of Unsaturated Fatty Acids by Acanthamoeba castellanii. The Journal of Protozoology 38 (6) , pp. 532-536. 10.1111/j.1550-7408.1991.tb06076.x

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Abstract

Major fatty acid components of Acanthamoeba castellanii lipids extracted after growth at 30°C include myristate, palmitate, stearate and the polyunsaturates linoleate, eicosadienoate, eicosatrienoate and arachidonate, with oleate as the sole major monounsaturated fatty acid. By comparison, growth at 15°C gave increased linoleate, eicosatrienoate and arachidonate, but decreased oleate and palmitate. When the growth temperature was shifted downwards from 30°C to 15°C, increased lipid unsaturation occurred over a period of 24 h; thus decreases of oleate and eicosadienoate were accompanied by increases in linoleate, eicosatrienoate, arachidonate and eicosapentaenoate. An upwards shift from 15°C to 30°C gave negligible alterations in fatty acid composition over a similar period. At 15°C organisms rapidly use [1‐14C] acetate for de novo fatty acid synthesis; stearate is converted via oleate to further desaturation and chain elongation products. Similar short term experiments at 30°C indicate only de novo synthesis and Δ9‐desaturation; synthesis of polyunsaturates was a much slower process. Rapid incorporation of [1‐14C] oleate at 30°C was not accompanied by metabolic conversion over two hours, whereas at 15°C n‐6 desaturation to linoleate was observed. Temperature shift of organisms from 15°C to 30°C in the presence of [1‐14C] acetate revealed that over half of the fatty acids in newly‐synthesised lipids were saturated, but the proportions of unsaturated fatty acids increased with time until the total polyenoate components reached 17% after 22 h. A shift of temperature in the reverse direction gave a corresponding figure of 60% for polyunsaturated fatty acids. These results emphasize the importance of n‐6 desaturation in the low temperature adaptation of Acanthamoeba castellanii.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Biosciences
ISSN:	0022-3921
Date of Acceptance:	7 August 1991
Last Modified:	26 Oct 2022 08:36
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/127877

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