Bioinformatics Based Comparative Analysis of Omega-3 Fatty Acids in Desert Plants and Their Role in Stress Resistance and Tolerance

Abstract

Numerous studies and clinical investigations have been carried out on the metabolism of poly unsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in general and on omega-3 fatty acids in particular over the past two decades. They are involved in a number of stress responses in plants, as illustrated by the genomic studies on <i>A</i><i>rabidopsis</i><i> </i><i>t</i><i>haliana</i>. Alignment of the sequences and phylogenetic analysis followed by motif elicitation provided ample evidences to show that the stress resistance/tolerance genes have identical sequences which may contribute to the same in all or most of the examined species. In this study we have included a diverse array of plants to find out the involvement of the enzyme omega-3 fatty acid desaturase in omega-3 fatty acid synthesis. Overall results suggest that desaturases play a significant role in stress response in the selected plant species such as date palm and jojoba.