Fungus Saprolegnia

Shirasaka, N., Yokochi, T., and Shimizu, S. 1995. Formation of a novel odd chain polyunsaturated fatty acid, 5,8,11,17,17-a i-nonadecapentaenoic acid, by an EPA-producing aquatic fungus, Saprolegnia sp. 28YTF-1. Biosci. Biotech. Biochem., 59, 1963-1965. 

Apart from the above mentioned enzymes, there also exist a few enzymes involved in PUFA metabolic pathways that have recently been found. One of them is a novel n-3 fatty acid desaturase, isolated from an EPA-rich fungus, Saprolegnia diclina [248]. The gene was isolated by PCR amplification from a fungus cDNA library and then, expressed in S. cerevisiae, which was cultured in the presence of several FA as substrates. The study showed that the recombinant protein could exclusively desaturase C20 n-6 PUFAs, with preference for AA which was converted into EPA. This represents a completely novel and different activity from any organism previously described, and its potential for use in EPA production in transgenic oilseed crops has been outlined. 

Gellerman, J.L. and Schlenk, H. (1979) Methyl-directed desaturation of arachidonic to eicosapentaenoic add in the fungus Saprolegnia parasitica. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 573, 23-30. 

BRANSON, E.J. (2002) Efficacy of bronopol against infection of rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss) with the fungus Saprolegnia species. Veterinary Record, 151,539-541. 

L. G. Willoughby (1989). Continued defense of salmonid fish against Saprolegnia fungus after its establishment, J. Fish. Dis., 12, 63-67. 

A previously described fungal lipoxygenase from Fusarium oxysporum readily metabolized 18-carbon fatty acids (Matsuda et al., 1978), as does a recently described lipoxygenase from Saprolegnia parasitica (Hamberg et al., 1986), an oomycetous fungus more closely related to giganteum. The... 

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