De novo biosynthesis of linoleic acid is widespread in parasitic wasps

Linoleic acid (C18:2^∆9,12 , LA) is an important metabolite with numerous essential functions for growth, health, and reproduction of organisms. It has long been assumed that animals lack ∆12-desaturases, the enzymes needed to produce LA from oleic acid (C18:1^∆9 , OA). There is, however, increasing evidence that this is not generally true for invertebrates. In the insect order Hymenoptera, LA biosynthesis has been shown for only two parasitic wasp species of the so-called "Nasonia group," but it is unknown whether members of other taxa are also capable of synthesizing LA. Here, we demonstrate LA biosynthesis in 13 out of 14 species from six families of parasitic wasps by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis using two different stable isotope labeling techniques. Females of the studied species converted topically applied fully ¹³ C-labeled OA into LA and/or produced labeled LA after feeding on fully ¹³ C-labeled α- d-glucose. These results indicate that ∆12-desaturases are widespread in parasitic Hymenoptera and confirm previous studies demonstrating that these insects are capable of synthesizing fatty acids de novo.