Fatty acid elongation is independent of acyl-coenzyme A synthetase activities in leek and Brassica napus

In both animal and plant acyl elongation systems, it has been proposed that fatty acids are first activated to acyl-coenzyme A (CoA) before their elongation, and that the ATP dependence of fatty acid elongation is evidence of acyl-CoA synthetase involvement. However, because CoA is not supplied in standard fatty acid elongation assays, it is not clear if CoA-dependent acyl-CoA synthetase activity can provide levels of acyl-CoAs necessary to support typical rates of fatty acid elongation. Therefore, we examined the role of acyl-CoA synthetase in providing the primer for acyl elongation in leek (Allium porrum L.) epidermal microsomes and Brassica napus L. cv Reston oil bodies. As presented here, fatty acid elongation was independent of CoA and proceeded at maximum rates with CoA-free preparations of malonyl-CoA. We also showed that stearic acid ([1-C-14]18:0)-CoA was synthesized from [1-C-14]18:0 in the presence of CoA-free malonyl-CoA or acetyl-CoA, and that [1-C-14]18:0-CoA synthesis under these conditions was ATP dependent. Furthermore, the appearance of [1-C-14]18:0 in the acyl-CoA fraction was simultaneous with its appearance in phosphatidylcholine. These data, together with the results of a previous study (A. Hlousek-Radojcic, H. Imai, J.G. Jaworski [1995] Plant J 8: 803-809) showing that exogenous [C-14]acyl-CoAs are diluted by a relatively large endogenous pool before they are elongated, strongly indicated that acyl-CoA synthetase did not play a direct role in fatty acid elongation, and that phosphatidylcholine or another glycerolipid was a more likely source of elongation primers than acyl-CoAs.