From time immemorial food chain has been relying on microalgal species as a primary source of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). Delta-6 desaturase plays a crucial role in the synthesis of important PUFA like EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid). In fish, PUFA play pivotal roles in growth, development, reproductive health and immune systems being major constituents of cellular membrane and acting as precursors of physiologically active molecules including hormones.
Fishes are incapable of synthesizing all the necessary PUFA by themselves. Therefore, most fishes are dependent on microalgal species in the food chain to satiate their PUFA requirements. Delta-6 desaturases catalyze conversion of linoleic acid (LA) into gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) leading to the formation of EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA which is considered as a rate-limiting step. Therefore, we posit to target Delta-6 desaturase rich Arthrospira platensis Sp-6 as a potential feed. Delta-6 desaturase protein with accession no. ACN65115.1 in Arthrospira platensis Sp-6 and the full-length protein containing 368 amino acids was retrieved from NCBI. In silico prediction of physiological properties by protparam such as evolutionary homolog being evident by strong bootstrap value. Consurf results investigated all the evolutionary conserved residues retrieved from multiple sequence alignments of all the homologous proteins which were marked by 9 -different color codes. Thus, envisioning delta-6 desaturase rich Arthrospira platensis Sp-6 as a potential feed might be beneficial for overall growth and development of fishes thereby driving sustainable growth of aquaculture industry.