Fig. 5

Biosynthetic pathway leading to the sex pheromone of Agrotis segetum, modified from [37]. It starts with carboxylation of acetyl-CoA to malonyl-CoA, and then they are entered to a cycle of fatty acid synthesis and end up with common fatty acids stearate and palmitate. The ∆11 desaturase inserts a double bond in the acyl chain and then the unsaturated fatty acid is subjected to three rounds of chain-shortening by β-oxidation, forming three acyl-chains different by two carbon atoms. These acyl-chains are then reduced by fatty-acyl CoA reductase (FAR) to make fatty alcohols, which are then acetylated to acetate esters, the final A. segetum pheromones. Thick arrows represent steps are functionally assayed in heterologous systems