biochemistry topic odd and branched chain fatty acid

1. AIYSHA ZIA
BS CHEMISTRY
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL PUNJAB

2. ODD AND BRANCED CHAIN
FATTY ACIDS

3.  In biochemistry, a fatty acid is a
carboxylic acid with a long aliphatic chain, which is
either saturated or unsaturated.
 More than 20 types of fatty acids are found in
foods.
 Sources of fatty acids include fruits, vegetable oils,
seeds, nuts, animal fats, and fish oils.

4.  Branched chain fatty acids (BCFA) are primarily
saturated fatty acids (FA) with one or more methyl
branch on the carbon chain.
 BCFAs can be found in bacteria, fish, dietary
products and in the vernix caseosa of human infants.
 Human breast milk and fermented soy have
relatively high amounts of BCFAs in natural
occurring food resources.

5. IDENTIFICATION EXAMPLES
 Iso-Methyl
branched fatty acids
have the branch
point on the
penultimate carbon
(one from the end
or (ω-1)).

6. IDENTIFICATION EXPRESSION
 Anteiso-methyl-
branched fatty acids
have the branch
point on the ante-
penultimate carbon
atom (two from the
end or (ω-2).

8.  BCFA are categorized as mono-, di-, or multi-
methyl BCFA based on the number of methyl
branches.
 The most common branched chain fatty acids are
mono-methyl-branched, but di- and poly-methyl-
branched fatty acids are also known and the mycolic
acids especially are highly complex.

9.  Mono-methyl branched-chain fatty acids
Mono-methyl fatty acid are commonly found in many
organisms from bacteria to mammals.
In humans, they have been detected in skin, brain, blood,
and cancer cells.
 Mycolic fatty acid
Mycolic acids are long fatty acids found in the cell walls of
the Mycolata taxon, a group of bacteria that includes
Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of the
disease tuberculos.
They form the major component of the cell wall of
mycolata species.

10. MONO-METHYL FATTY
ACID MYCOLIC FATTY ACID

11.  Odd-chain fatty acids are those fatty acids that
contain an odd number of carbon atoms.
 Rare found in some Plants and marine organisms,
e.g. propionic acid, heptadecanoic acid or margaric
acid.
 Most fatty acids are even chain, e.g. stearic (C16)
and oleic (C18).
 On a molecular level, the odd-chain fatty acids are
biosynthesized and metabolized slightly differently
from the even-chained relatives

12.  Longer, odd chain fatty acids, particularly C13:0 to
C19:0, can be found at trace levels in most animal
tissues where they are obtained through the diet.
 Their major dietary source is ruminant animals
where odd chain fatty acids comprise >5% of the
total fatty acid population.
 Odd-chain and branched-chain fatty acids, which
form propionyl-CoA, can serve as minor precursors
for gluconeogenesis.

14.  The most common OCFA are the saturated C15 and
C17 derivatives, respectively pentadecanoic
acid and heptadecanoic acid.
 The synthesis of even-chained fatty acidf synthesis
is done by assembling acetyl-CoA precursors.
Because the segments are each two carbons in
length the resulting fatty acid has an even number of
carbon atoms in it.
 However, propionyl-CoA instead of acetyl-CoA is
used as the primer for the biosynthesis of long-chain
fatty acids with an odd number of carbon atoms.

15. Nervonic Acid
Nervonic acid is a mono-saturated odd -fatty acid
which serve as a biomarker for certain human disorders.