Abstract
The membrane lipids of higher plants contain a high content of trienoic fatty acids (TAs), which are assumed to play an important role in acclimation to environmental stresses. TA synthesis is catalyzed by ω-3 fatty acid desaturase. In Arabidopsis, three isozymes (FAD3, FAD7 and FAD8) have been identified. Because of the difficulties in generating specific antibodies against these isozymes, their immunodetection has not been feasible. In this study, to conduct quantitative analysis of the expression of the three desaturase isozymes, transgenic Arabidopsis plants expressing c-Myc epitope-tagged variants of each isozyme were generated. These variants were immunologically detectable and enzymatically active in vivo. Using these transgenic plants, we examined differential patterns of expression of each desaturase isozyme at the protein level in response to environmental stresses such as wounding and temperature change.
