Fatty acid
Malonyl-CoA is then involved in a repeating series of reactions that lengthens the growing fatty acid chain by two carbons at a time. Almost all natural fatty acids, therefore, have even numbers of carbon atoms. When synthesis is complete the free fatty acids are nearly always combined with glycerol (three fatty acids to one glycerol molecule) to form triglycerides, the main storage form of fatty acids, and thus of energy in animals. However, fatty acids are also important components of the phospholipids that form the phospholipid bilayers out of which all the membranes of the cell are constructed (the cell wall, and the membranes that enclose all the organelles within the cells, such as the nucleus, the mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum, and the Golgi apparatus).
Fatty-acyl-CoA synthase
Synthesis of fatty acids is generally performed by fatty acid synthase (FAS). Though the syntheses of fatty acids are very similar across all organisms, the enzymes and subsequent enzymatic mechanisms involved in fatty acid synthesis vary between eukaryotes and prokaryotes. There are two types of fatty acid synthesis (FAS) mechanisms: type I FAS and type II FAS. Type I FAS exists in eukaryotes, including mammalian cells and fungi. Type II FAS are found in prokaryotes. The type I FAS system utilizes a multi-enzyme complex, which are highly integrated, while the type II FAS system utilizes individual, separate enzymes to catalyze the reactions involved in fatty acid synthesis. Yeast fatty acyl synthase belongs to the Type I FAS and was the first of Type I FAS to be studied.