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The role of acyl-CoA thioesterase ACOT8I in mediating intracellular lipid metabolism in oleaginous fungus Mortierella alpina

  • Food Biotechnology & Probiotics - Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Industrial Microbiology & Biotechnology

Abstract

Thioesterases (TEs) play an essential role in the metabolism of fatty acids (FAs). To explore the role of TEs in mediating intracellular lipid metabolism in the oleaginous fungus Mortierella alpina, the acyl-CoA thioesterase ACOT8I was overexpressed. The contents of total fatty acids (TFAs) were the same in the recombinant strains as in the wild-type M. alpina, whilst the production of free fatty acids (FFAs) was enhanced from about 0.9% (wild-type) to 2.8% (recombinant), a roughly threefold increase. Linoleic acid content in FFA form constituted about 9% of the TFAs in the FFA fraction in the recombinant strains but only about 1.3% in the wild-type M. alpina. The gamma-linolenic acid and arachidonic acid contents in FFA form accounted for about 4 and 25%, respectively, of the TFAs in the FFA fraction in the recombinant strains, whilst neither of them in FFA form were detected in the wild-type M. alpina. Overexpression of the TE ACOT8I in the oleaginous fungus M. alpina reinforced the flux from acyl-CoAs to FFAs, improved the production of FFAs and tailored the FA profiles of the lipid species.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China

    Jing Guo, Haiqin Chen, Bo Yang, Hao Zhang, Wei Chen & Yong Q. Chen

  2. School of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, W1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi, 214122, People’s Republic of China

    Jing Guo, Haiqin Chen, Bo Yang, Hao Zhang, Wei Chen & Yong Q. Chen

  3. National Engineering Research Center for Functional Food, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China

    Wei Chen

  4. Beijing Innovation Centre of Food Nutrition and Human Health, Beijing Technology and Business University (BTBU), Beijing, 100048, People’s Republic of China

    Wei Chen & Yong Q. Chen

  5. Department of Cancer Biology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, 27157, USA

    Yong Q. Chen

Authors
  1. Jing Guo
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  2. Haiqin Chen
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  3. Bo Yang
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  4. Hao Zhang
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  5. Wei Chen
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  6. Yong Q. Chen
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Contributions

JG carried out the experiments and drafted the manuscript. HC and BY performed the complementation experiments. HC and YQC analyzed the data and helped to draft the manuscript. WC and HZ conceived and coordinated the study and revised the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Haiqin Chen.

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Funding

This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (nos. 31571810, 31530056); the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (no. JUSRP51702A); the program of “Collaborative innovation center of food safety and quality control in Jiangsu Province”.

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The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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Guo, J., Chen, H., Yang, B. et al. The role of acyl-CoA thioesterase ACOT8I in mediating intracellular lipid metabolism in oleaginous fungus Mortierella alpina. J Ind Microbiol Biotechnol 45, 281–291 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10295-018-2006-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10295-018-2006-8

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