Reaction: a long-chain acyl-CoA + 2 NADPH + 2 H+ = a long-chain alcohol + 2 NADP+ + CoA
Glossary: a long-chain acyl-CoA = an acyl-CoA thioester where the acyl chain contains 13 to 22 carbon atoms.
Other name(s): FAR (gene name); long-chain acyl-CoA:NADPH reductase
Systematic name: NADPH:long-chain acyl-CoA reductase
Comments: The enzyme has a wide distribution and is found in bacteria, plants, fungi, and animals. The alcohol is formed by a four-electron reduction of fatty acyl-CoA. Although the reaction proceeds through an aldehyde intermediate, a free aldehyde is not released. Enzymes from different sources vary in their chain-length preference. cf. EC 1.2.1.108, alcohol-forming fatty acyl-CoA reductase (NADH).
Links to other databases: BRENDA, EXPASY, KEGG, MetaCyc, PDB, CAS registry number:
References:
1. Metz, J.G., Pollard, M.R., Anderson, L., Hayes, T.R. and Lassner, M.W. Purification of a jojoba embryo fatty acyl-coenzyme A reductase and expression of its cDNA in high erucic acid rapeseed. Plant Physiol. 122 (2000) 635-644. [PMID: 10712526]
2. Cheng, J.B. and Russell, D.W. Mammalian wax biosynthesis. I. Identification of two fatty acyl-Coenzyme A reductases with different substrate specificities and tissue distributions. J. Biol. Chem. 279 (2004) 37789-37797. [PMID: 15220348]
3. Doan, T.T., Carlsson, A.S., Hamberg, M., Bulow, L., Stymne, S. and Olsson, P. Functional expression of five Arabidopsis fatty acyl-CoA reductase genes in Escherichia coli. J. Plant Physiol. 166 (2009) 787-796. [PMID: 19062129]
4. Moto, K., Yoshiga, T., Yamamoto, M., Takahashi, S., Okano, K., Ando, T., Nakata, T. and Matsumoto, S. Pheromone gland-specific fatty-acyl reductase of the silkmoth, Bombyx mori. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 100 (2003) 9156-9161. [PMID: 12871998]