The specificity of 1-acyl-sn-glycerol 3-phosphate acyltransferase in microsomal fractions from lactating cow mammary gland towards short, medium and long chain acyl-CoA esters.

The 1-acylglycerolphosphate actyltransferase from a microsomal fraction of lactating cow mammary gland was active towards acyl-CoAs of chain length C8-C18, but not towards butyryl-CoA or hexanoyl-CoA. The lack of activity towards butyryl-CoA and hexanoyl-CoA explains why butyric and hexanoic acid are largely excluded from the sn-2 position of triacylglycerols from cow milk. The chain length specificity of the acyltransferase was C16 greater than C14 greater than C12 greater than C10 greater than C8, which is essentially the same as the order with which the fatty acids are found at the sn-2 position of cow milk triacylglycerols. The specificity was not affected by the nature of the fatty acid (palmitic or oleic acid) at the sn-1 position of 1-acylglycerolphosphate, as predicted by the theory of noncorrelative acylation.