DES2 is a fatty acid Δ11 desaturase capable of synthesizing palmitvaccenic acid in the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Rhizophagus irregularis

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are oleaginous organisms, and the most abundant fatty acyl moiety usually found in their lipids is palmitvaccenic acid (16:1(Δ11cis)). However, it is not known how this uncommon fatty acid species is made. Here, we have cloned two homologues of lepidopteran fatty acyl‐coenzyme A Δ11 desaturases from the AM fungus Rhizophagus irregularis. Both enzymes, DES1 and DES2, are expressed in intraradical mycelium and can complement the unsaturated fatty acid‐requiring auxotrophic growth phenotype of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae ole1Δ mutant. DES1 expression leads almost exclusively to oleic acid (18:1(Δ9cis)) production, whereas DES2 expression results in the production of 16:1(Δ11cis) and vaccenic acid (18:1(Δ11cis)). DES2 therefore encodes a Δ11 desaturase that is likely to be responsible for the synthesis of 16:1(Δ11cis) in R. irregularis.