Reaction: (1) palmitoyl-CoA + 2 ferrocytochrome b5 + O2 + 2 H+ = (14E)-hexadec-14-enoyl-CoA + 2 ferricytochrome b5 + 2 H2O
(2) palmitoyl-CoA + 2 ferrocytochrome b5 + O2 + 2 H+ = (14Z)-hexadec-14-enoyl-CoA + 2 ferricytochrome b5 + 2 H2O
Systematic name: palmitoyl-CoA,ferrocytochrome b5:oxygen oxidoreductase (14,15 cis/trans-dehydrogenating)
Comments: The enzyme, found in the moth Ostrinia furnacalis (Asian corn borer), produces a mixture of (E)- and (Z)- isomers. The products are subsequently truncated by partial β-oxidation to a blend of 12(E/Z)-tetradec-12-enoyl-CoA, which are converted to the species-specific sex pheromones (E)- and (Z)-tetradec-12-enoyl acetates.
Links to other databases: BRENDA, EXPASY, KEGG, MetaCyc, CAS registry number:
References:
1. Roelofs, W.L., Liu, W., Hao, G., Jiao, H., Rooney, A.P. and Linn, C.E., Jr. Evolution of moth sex pheromones via ancestral genes. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 99 (2002) 13621-13626. [PMID: 12237399]
2. Xue, B., Rooney, A.P., Kajikawa, M., Okada, N. and Roelofs, W.L. Novel sex pheromone desaturases in the genomes of corn borers generated through gene duplication and retroposon fusion. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 104 (2007) 4467-4472. [PMID: 17360547]
3. Sakai, R., Fukuzawa, M., Nakano, R., Tatsuki, S. and Ishikawa, Y. Alternative suppression of transcription from two desaturase genes is the key for species-specific sex pheromone biosynthesis in two Ostrinia moths. Insect Biochem. Mol. Biol. 39 (2009) 62-67. [PMID: 18992816]