Regulation of the synthesis of unsaturated fatty acids by growth temperature in Bacillus subtilis

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Abstract
Bacillus subtilis synthesizes, almost exclusively, saturated fatty acids, when grown at 37° C. When cultures were transferred from 37° C to 20° C, a chloramphenicol‐ and rifampicin‐sensitive synthesis of a C‐16 unsaturated fatty acid was observed. Synthesis of this compound reached a plateau after 5 h at 20° C, reaching levels of 20% of the total fatty acid content. [14C]‐labelled fatty acids attached as thioesters to acyl‐carriers compounds, such as coenzyme A (CoA) or acyl‐carrier protein (ACP) synthesized de novo by glycerol‐requiring auxotrophs deprived of glycerol to arrest phospholipid synthesis, could not be desaturated at 20° C. Desaturation of these fatty acids was readily observed when glycerol was restored to the cultures allowing resumption of transfer of acyl‐moieties from acyl‐thioesters to phospholipid. It was also observed that depletion of the pools of CoA and ACP by starvation of pantothenate auxotrophs had no effect on the observed synthesis of unsaturated fatty acid at 20° C. The overall results indicate that synthesis of unsaturated fatty acids in B. subtilis is a cold‐inducible process and that phospholipids are obligate intermediates in this fatty acid desaturation pathway.