Biological Function
This enzyme can be induced in many Candida yeast strains by growing them on long-chain alkanes as the major food source. Long-chain fatty alcohol oxidases participate in omega-oxidation of long chain alkanes or fatty acids. The alkane is first oxidized to an alcohol by an enzyme of the Cytochrome P450 family using NADPH. This alcohol is oxidized by long-chain fatty alcohol oxidase in yeast.
(This is different from the pathway found in mammalian tissues, which employs long-chain fatty alcohol dehydrogenase or fatty alcohol:NAD+ oxidoreductase and requires NAD+. Yeast have low levels of fatty alcohol dehydrogenase.)
The long-chain alcohol is then oxidized by long-chain fatty aldehyde dehydrogenase to a carboxylic acid, also producing NADH from NAD+. Fatty acids can be oxidized again to make dicarboxylic species that join with coenzyme A and enter the beta oxidation pathway in the peroxisome.
Long-chain alcohol oxidase is also used in germinating seedlings of jojoba (Simmondsia chinensis) to degrade esterified long-chain fatty alcohols stored as wax.
Read more about this topic: Long-chain-alcohol Oxidase
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