Isolation and characterization of genes from the marine microalga Pavlova salina encoding three front-end desaturases involved in docosahexaenoic acid biosynthesis

The fatty acid Δ4, Δ5 and Δ8-desaturase genes were cloned from marine microalga Pavlova salina, and the encoded enzymes produced omega-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA) eicosatetraenoic acid (ETA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in yeast cells and/or transgenic seeds, respectively, with appropriate substrates.