Fad7 gene identification and fatty acids phenotypic variation in an olive collection by EcoTILLING and sequencing approaches

The ω-3 fatty acid desaturases (FADs) are enzymes responsible for catalyzing the conversion of linoleic acid to α-linolenic acid localized in the plastid or in the endoplasmic reticulum. In this research we report the genotypic and phenotypic variation of Italian Olea europaea L. germoplasm for the fatty acid composition. The phenotypic oil characterization was followed by the molecular analysis of the plastidial-type ω-3 FAD gene (fad7) (EC 1.14.19), whose full-length sequence has been here identified in cultivar Leccino. The gene consisted of 2635 bp with 8 exons and 5′- and 3′-UTRs of 336 and 282 bp respectively, and showed a high level of heterozygousity (1/110 bp). The natural allelic variation was investigated both by a LiCOR EcoTILLING assay and the PCR product direct sequencing. Only three haplotypes were identified among the 96 analysed cultivars, highlighting the strong degree of conservation of this gene.