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. 2018 Sep 25;8(1):14336.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-32710-w.

A polymorphism in the fatty acid desaturase-2 gene is associated with the arachidonic acid metabolism in pigs

Sofia Gol  1 , Ramona N Pena  1 , Max F Rothschild  2 , Marc Tor  1 , Joan Estany  3
Affiliations

A polymorphism in the fatty acid desaturase-2 gene is associated with the arachidonic acid metabolism in pigs

Sofia Gol et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Arachidonic acid (C20:4) is related to a wide range of biological effects including lipid homeostasis. The fatty acid desaturase-2 (FADS2) gene encodes for the delta-6-desaturase, which is involved in the biosynthesis of C20:4 from linoleic acid (C18:2). The purpose of this study was to characterise mutations in the promoter of the porcine FADS2, evaluating in particular the effect of one haplotype tagging polymorphism (rs321384923A > G) on the biosynthesis pathway of C20:4. A total of 1,192 Duroc barrows with records on fatty acid composition in muscle and subcutaneous fat were genotyped. Pigs carrying the A allele showed, irrespective of fat content, both enhanced FADS2 expression and higher C20:4 in muscle and exhibited increased ratios of C20:4 to C18:2 and of C20:4 to eicosadienoic acid (C20:2) in both muscle and adipose tissue. Despite the inverse relationship observed between C20:4 and fat content, the rs321384923 polymorphism had no impact on lean weight. It is concluded that the haplotype encompassing the rs321384923 polymorphism at the porcine FADS2 affects the n-6 fatty acid profile by specifically modifying the desaturation efficiency of C18:2 to C20:4 rather than by concomitant variations in C18:2 following changes in fat content.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The role of FADS2 in the biosynthesis of arachidonic acid from linoleic acid. The fatty acid desaturase-2 (FADS2, Δ-6 desaturase) catalyses the first step for the biosynthesis of arachidonic acid (all-cis-5,8,11,14–20:4), in which linoleic acid (all-cis-9-12-18:2) is desaturated to γ-linolenic acid (all-cis-6,9,12–18:3) and then elongated into dihomo-γ-linolenic acid (all-cis-8,11,14–20:3). Alternatively, linoleic acid is elongated into eicosadienoic acid (all-cis-11,14–20:2), which in turn can be either desaturated to eicosatrenoic acid (all-cis-5,11,14–20:3) via fatty acid desaturase-1 (FADS1, Δ-5 desaturase) or to dihomo-γ-linolenic acid (all-cis-8,11,14–20:3) via FADS2 (Δ-8 desaturase). The arachidonic acid is finally synthetized by desaturating dihomo-γ-linolenic acid via FADS1.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Relative FADS2 mRNA expression in muscle by rs321384923 genotype. The FADS2 gene expression in the semimembranosus muscle was around two-fold higher for the AA genotype as compared to the GG genotype. The number of pigs (n) per genotype ranged from 14 to 30. Error bars represent standard errors. Means with different superscripts differ significantly (P < 0.05).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Efficiency of arachidonic acid biosynthesis by FADS2 rs321384923 genotype in muscle and subcutaneous fat. (A) The AA genotype of FADS2 was more efficient than the GG genotype in transforming linoleic acid (C18:2) into arachidonic acid (C20:4) both in muscle (GM: m. gluteus medius; LM: m. longissimus thoracis muscle; and SM: m. semimembranosus muscle) and in subcutaneous fat, around 12% and 2%, respectively. As a result, (B) C20:4 to eicosadienoic acid (C20:2) ratio in muscle and in subcutaneous fat was, respectively, 18% and 8% greater in AA pigs as compared to GG pigs. The number of pigs (n) genotyped per tissue and genotype ranged from 24 to 569. Error bars represent standard errors. Within tissue, means with different superscripts differ significantly (P < 0.05).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Relationship of arachidonic acid in muscle with intramuscular fat content. The arachidonic acid (C20:4) content, expressed as a percentage of total fatty acids, is negatively related to intramuscular fat (IMF-1 = 0.0218 + 0.0323*C20:4; R2:0.66). The regression was obtained across muscles using 1,912 datapoints from gluteus medius (GM, n = 1,177), longissimus thoracis (LM; n = 548) and semimembranosus (SM; n = 187) muscles. The GM showed the lowest C20:4 content (raw mean of 1.47%, 1.72% and 2.95%, for GM, LM and SM, respectively) and the highest level of IMF (raw mean of 17.2%, 13.3% and 9.6% for GM, LM and SM, respectively).
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