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Pathway: fatty acid oxidation pathway

Biochemical pathways in S. cerevisiae are manually curated and maintained in the YeastPathways database. This page summarizes the genes, enzymes, and metabolites involved in the pathway, along with the curated literature.

Pathway Name
fatty acid oxidation pathway
Pathway ID
YEAST-FAO-PWY
SGD ID
SGD:S000203445
Genes
DCI1 | ECI1 | FAA1 | FAA2 | FAA3 | FAA4 | FAT1 | FOX2 | POT1 | POX1
Aliases
fa-ox ; beta-oxidation of fatty acids ; β-oxidation of fatty acids
Chemical Compounds
(S)-3-hydroxyacyl-CoA | 2,3,4-saturated fatty acid(1-) | 3-oxo-fatty acyl-CoA | ATP(4-) | NAD(1-) | NADH(2-) | acetyl-CoA(4-) | adenosine 5'-monophosphate(2-) | coenzyme A(4-) | dioxygen | diphosphoric acid | hydrogen peroxide | hydron | water

Pathway Diagram

Diagram of the pathway from YeastPathways. Click "View interactive diagram at YeastPathways" for the zoomable, clickable version.

fatty acid oxidation pathway pathway diagram

View interactive diagram at YeastPathways

Pathway Summary

In most organisms, the primary mode of fatty acid catabolism is -oxidation. The -oxidation cycle catalyzes the complete oxidation of a fatty acid molecule, removing two carbon atoms (in the form of acetyl-CoA) with each turn of the cycle. The subcellular location in which -oxidation occurs varies by organism; in bacteria, -oxidation occurs in the cytoplasm, whereas in mammalian cells it occurs in both the mitochondria and the peroxisome. In contrast, -oxidation in S. cerevisiae, plants, and most other fungi occurs exclusively in the peroxisome. -oxidation begins with the activation of a fatty acid with coenzyme A, producing an acyl-CoA. In S. cerevisiae, the uptake of free fatty acids as well as their activation with coenzyme A occurs via the acyl-CoA synthases Fat1p and Faa1p-Faa4p. The acyl-CoA molecule is then oxidized, introducing a double bond between C2 (the -carbon) and C3 (the -carbon). This step is catalyzed by acyl-CoA oxidase, encoded by POX1 in yeast. In the third step, the double bond is hydrated, leading to the formation of a hydroxyl group on C3. The stereochemistry of the 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA intermediate is specific to the type of -oxidation pathway. In fungal peroxisomes, -oxidation proceeds via (3R)-hydroxy intermediates; in contrast, mitochondrial -oxidation in mammals proceeds via the (3S) enantiomer. In the fourth step, the hydroxyl group is oxidized to a carbonyl group, forming a 3-ketoacyl-CoA intermediate. Steps 3-4 are both catalyzed by the multifunctional enzyme Fox2p in S. cerevisiae. Lastly, the 3-ketoacyl-CoA intermediate undergoes thiolytic cleavage between C2 and C3, yielding one acetyl-CoA and an acyl-CoA molecule shortened by two carbon atoms. This step is catalyzed by 3-ketoacyl-CoA thiolase, encoded by POT1 in S. cerevisiae.

Genes Involved

Genes whose products participate in this pathway, with their systematic names, EC numbers (where the gene product is an enzyme with an assigned EC number), and the gene's SGD description.

GeneSystematic NameEC NumberDescription
DCI1 YOR180C 5.3.3.21 Peroxisomal protein
ECI1 YLR284C 5.3.3.8 Peroxisomal delta3,delta2-enoyl-CoA isomerase
FAA1 YOR317W 6.2.1.3 Long chain fatty acyl-CoA synthetase
FAA2 YER015W 6.2.1.3 Medium chain fatty acyl-CoA synthetase
FAA3 YIL009W 6.2.1.3 Long chain fatty acyl-CoA synthetase
FAA4 YMR246W 6.2.1.3 Long chain fatty acyl-CoA synthetase
FAT1 YBR041W Very long chain fatty acyl-CoA synthetase and fatty acid transporter
FOX2 YKR009C 1.1.1.n12, 4.2.1.119 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase and enoyl-CoA hydratase
POT1 YIL160C 2.3.1.16 3-ketoacyl-CoA thiolase with broad chain length specificity
POX1 YGL205W 1.3.3.6 Fatty-acyl coenzyme A oxidase

Functional Networks

Functional Networks show how the genes in this pathway work together: a graph linking the pathway to its genes and their shared GO biological-process terms and phenotype observables, and the GO-CAM causal activity models that involve these genes.

Shared Annotations

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GO-CAMs

GO-CAM (Gene Ontology Causal Activity Model) pathway models that involve the genes in this pathway. A gene can participate in more than one model, so use the dropdown to switch between them; the model for this pathway is shown by default.

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GO Enrichment

Gene Ontology biological-process terms enriched among the genes in this pathway, computed with GO Term Finder. Terms are shown with the number of pathway genes annotated to them and the corrected p-value.

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References

List of references used specifically to curate the information on this page.

Resources

YeastPathways