An object of the present invention is to clone a gene which is involved in
synthesis of fatty acid having trans-11-, cis-13-conjugated double bonds
from fatty acid having a double bone at position .DELTA.12. The present
invention provides a gene having any one of the following nucleotide
sequences:
(A) a nucleotide sequence encoding an amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID
NO: 1 or 12;
(B) a nucleotide sequence encoding an amino acid sequence comprising a
deletion, addition or substitution of one or several amino acids with
respect to the amino acid sequence shown in SEQ NO: 1 or 12, and having
an ability of synthesizing fatty acid having trans-11-, cis-13-conjugated
double bonds from fatty acid having a double bond at position .DELTA.12;
(C) a nucleotide sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 2 or 13;
(D) a nucleotide sequence comprising a deletion, addition or substitution
of one or several nucleotides with respect to the nucleotide sequence
shown in SEQ ID NO: 2 or 13, and encoding a protein having an ability of
synthesizing fatty acid having trans-11-, cis-13-conjugated double bonds
from fatty acid having a double bond at position .DELTA.12; and
(E) a nucleotide sequence hybridizing with the nucleotide sequence shown
in SEQ ID NO: 2 or 13 or a complementary sequence thereof under stringent
conditions, and encoding a protein having an ability of synthesizing
fatty acid having trans-11-, cis-13-conjugated double bonds from fatty
acid having a double bond at position .DELTA.12.
