Identification of Novel Acyl-ACP Thioesterase Gene ClFATB1 from Cinnamomum longepaniculatum

---

Na Lin^1,2, Tao-bo Ai^1,3, Ji-hai Gao^1,4, Lin-hong Fan¹, Sheng-hua Wang^1*, and Fang Chen¹

¹Key Laboratory of Bio-resources and Eco-environment of the Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, 24 South Section 1, 1st Ring Road, Chengdu 610064, People’s Republic of China; fax: +86-28-8541-7281; E-mail: wangshenghua24@163.com

²Institute of Biology, Yibin University, Yibin 644000, People’s Republic of China

³Chengdu Institute of Product Quality Supervision and Inspection, Chengdu 610100, People’s Republic of China

⁴Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu 610075, People’s Republic of China

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received February 26, 2013; Revision received August 14, 2013

---

A putative fatty acyl-acyl carrier protein (acyl-ACP) thioesterase (thioesterase) full-length cDNA sequence named as ClFATB1 was obtained from the seed cDNA library of Cinnamomum longepaniculatum by the SMART-RACE method. The novel gene encodes a protein of 382 amino acid residues with close homology to fatty acid thioesterase type B (FATB) enzymes of other plants, with two essential residues (His285 and Cys320) for thioesterase catalytic activity. The gene was transcribed in all tissues of C. longepaniculatum, the highest being in seeds. Recombinant ClFATB1 in Escherichia coli had higher specific activities against saturated 16:0- and 18:0-ACPs than on unsaturated 18:1-ACP. Overexpression of ClFATB1 in transgenic tobaccos upregulated thioesterase activities of crude proteins against 16:0-ACP and 18:0-ACP by 20.3 and 5.7%, respectively, and resulted in an increase in the contents of palmitic and stearic acids by 15.4 and 10.5%, respectively. However, ectopic expression of this gene decreased the substrate specificities of crude proteins to unsaturated 18:1-ACP by 12.7% in transgenic tobacco and lowered the contents of oleic, linoleic, and linolenic acids in transgenic leaves. So ClFATB1 would potentially upregulate the synthesis of saturated fatty acids and downregulate unsaturated ones in the fatty acid synthesis pathway of plants.

---

KEY WORDS: acyl-ACP thioesterase, Cinnamomum longepaniculatum, expression property, fatty acid, transgenic tobacco

DOI: 10.1134/S0006297913110114

---