Abstract

Omorefe Asemota and Farida Habib Shah

The thioesterase enzyme functions in lipid synthesis by cleaving the acyl-ACP bond and liberating the fatty acid. Thioesterases have been isolated from a number of plant sources. The gene for this enzyme was detected in Elaeis oleifera by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), cloned and sequenced and found to have considerable sequence similarity with other previously cloned thioesterases. Its highest homology is to the Brassica napus oleoyl-ACP thioesterase, 72% at the nucleotide level over the coding region examined, and 83% identity (90% positives) at the amino acid level.