Uses of novel fatty acid desaturases and elongases and products thereof

• US 10,351,870 B2
• Filed: 11/15/2016
• Issued: 07/16/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 07/17/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: BASF Plant Science Co. GmbH (BASF SE)
• Original Assignee: BASF Plant Science Co. GmbH (BASF SE)
• Inventors: Bauer, Jorg, Napier, Johnathan A., Sayanova, Olga
• Primary Examiner(s): O Hara, Eileen B
• Application Number:
  US15/351,962
• Publication Number:
  US 20170067070A1
• Time in Patent Office: 973 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: A01H 5/00 Angiosperms, i.e. flowering plants, characterised by their plant parts; Angiosperms characterised otherwise than by their botanic taxonomy
• CPC Class Codes: C07H 21/04 with deoxyribosyl as saccharide radical
• CPC Class Codes: C07K 14/405 from algae
• CPC Class Codes: C07K 14/435 from animals; from humans
• CPC Class Codes: C12N 15/8247 involving modified lipid metabolism, e.g. seed oil composition
• CPC Class Codes: C12N 9/0071 acting on paired donors with incorporation of molecular oxygen (1.14)
• CPC Class Codes: C12N 9/0083 Miscellaneous (1.14.99)
• CPC Class Codes: C12N 9/1029 transferring groups other than amino-acyl groups (2.3.1)
• CPC Class Codes: C12N 9/93 Ligases (6)
• CPC Class Codes: C12P 7/6427 Polyunsaturated fatty acids [PUFA], i.e. having two or more double bonds in their backbone
• CPC Class Codes: C12P 7/6432 Eicosapentaenoic acids [EPA]
• CPC Class Codes: C12P 7/6434 Docosahexenoic acids [DHA]
• CPC Class Codes: C12P 7/6472 containing polyunsaturated fatty acid [PUFA] residues, i.e. having two or more double bonds in their backbone
• CPC Class Codes: C12Y 114/19 with oxidation of a pair of donors resulting in the reduction of molecular oxygen to two molecules of water (1.14.19)
• CPC Class Codes: C12Y 114/19003 Linoleoyl-CoA desaturase (1.14.19.3)
• CPC Class Codes: C12Y 114/19004 DELTA8-fatty-acid desaturase (1.14.19.4)
• CPC Class Codes: C12Y 114/19006 DELTA12-fatty-acid desaturase (1.14.19.6), i.e. oleoyl-CoA DELTA12 desaturase
• CPC Class Codes: C12Y 602/01003 Long-chain-fatty-acid-CoA ligase (6.2.1.3)

Abstract

The invention provides isolated nucleic acid molecules which encode novel fatty acid desaturases and elongases from the organism Emiliana huxleyi. The invention also provides recombinant expression vectors containing desaturase or elongase nucleic acid molecules, host cells into which the expression vectors have been introduced, and methods for large-scale production of long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFAs), e.g. arachidonic acid (ARA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) or docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).

Claims

1. Plant seed oil obtained from seeds of a transgenic plant, wherein the oil comprises at least 1% docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and at least 1% but not more than 6% eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), based on the total fatty acids of the transgenic seeds, and wherein the oil has a ratio of DHA to docosapentaenoic acid (DPA) of at least 2.

2. The oil of claim 1, wherein the transgenic plant is a transgenic oilseed plant.

3. The oil of claim 2, wherein the oilseed plant is flax (Linum sp.), rapeseed (Brassica sp.), soybean (Glycine sp.), sunflower (Helianthus sp.), cotton (Gossypium sp.), corn (Zea mays), olive (Olea sp.), safflower (Carthamus sp.), cocoa (Theobroma cacoa), peanut (Arachis sp.), hemp, camelina, crambe, oil palm, coconuts, groundnuts, sesame, castor bean, lesquerella, tallow tree, sheanuts, tungnuts, kapok fruit, poppy, jojoba, or perilla.

4. The oil of claim 2, wherein the oilseed plant is from the plant family of Brassicaceae.

5. The oil of claim 2, wherein the oilseed plant is a Brassica plant.

6. The oil of claim 1, wherein the oil has a ratio of DHA to DPA of 2.9.

7. The oil of claim 1, wherein the oil comprises at least 1% but not more than 5% EPA.

8. The oil of claim 1, wherein the DHA, EPA and DPA are triglyceride esters.

9. Plant seed oil obtained from seeds of a transgenic plant, wherein the oil comprises at least 1% docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and at least 1% but not more than 6% eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), based on the total fatty acids of the transgenic seed, and wherein the seeds of the transgenic plant have a conversion rate of docosapentaenoic acid (DPA) to DHA of at least 75%.

10. The oil of claim 9, wherein the transgenic plant is a transgenic oilseed plant.

11. The oil of claim 10, wherein the oilseed plant is flax (Linum sp.), rapeseed (Brassica sp.), soybean (Glycine sp.), sunflower (Helianthus sp.), cotton (Gossypium sp.), corn (Zea mays), olive (Olea sp.), safflower (Carthamus sp.), cocoa (Theobroma cacoa), peanut (Arachis sp.), hemp, camelina, crambe, oil palm, coconuts, groundnuts, sesame, castor bean, lesquerella, tallow tree, sheanuts, tungnuts, kapok fruit, poppy, jojoba, or perilla.

12. The oil of claim 10, wherein the oilseed plant is from the plant family of Brassicaceae.

13. The oil of claim 10, wherein the oilseed plant is a Brassica plant.

14. The oil of claim 9, wherein the oil has a ratio of DHA to DPA of at least 2.

15. The oil of claim 14, wherein the ratio of DHA to DPA is 2.9.

16. The oil of claim 9, wherein the oil comprises at least 1% but not more than 5% EPA.

17. The oil of claim 9, wherein the DHA, EPA and DPA are triglyceride esters.