Identification and Functional Analysis of a Delta 6-Desaturase Gene and the Effects of Temperature and Wounding Stresses on Its Expression in Microula sikkimensis Leaves

A Delta 6-desaturase gene was isolated from Microula sikkimensis. Sequence analysis indicated that the gene, designated MsD6DES, had an open reading frame of 1,357 bp and encoded 448 amino acids. Heterologous expression in tobacco indicated that MsD6DES can use endogenous substrates to synthesize gamma -linolenic acid (GLA, 18:3 Delta 6,9,12) and octadecatetraenoic acid (OTA, 18:4 Delta 6,9,12,15). MsD6DES transcripts were distributed in all tested tissues, with high expression levels in seeds and young leaves. The effects of temperature and wounding stresses on MsD6DES expression were analyzed. The results indicated that temperature regulates MsD6DES at the transcriptional level. MsD6DES expression increased first, reaching a maximum 4 h after low-temperature treatment. A slight increase in MsD6DES transcript levels was also observed under high temperature. We found that the response of MsD6DES to temperature stress was different from those of fungi and algae. In addition, MsD6DES was found to be wound-inducible.