Open AccessEngineering A shbya gossypii strains for de novo lipid production using industrial by‐products
Author(s) -
LozanoMartínez Patricia,
Buey Rubén M,
LedesmaAmaro Rodrigo,
Jiménez Alberto,
Revuelta José Luis
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
microbial biotechnology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.287
H-Index - 74
ISSN - 1751-7915
DOI - 10.1111/1751-7915.12487
Subject(s) - metabolic engineering , biology , sugar , biochemistry , microorganism , microbiology and biotechnology , carbon source , food science , industrial microbiology , fermentation , bacteria , gene , genetics
Summary Ashbya gossypii is a filamentous fungus that naturally overproduces riboflavin, and it is currently exploited for the industrial production of this vitamin. The utilization of A. gossypii for biotechnological applications presents important advantages such as the utilization of low‐cost culture media, inexpensive downstream processing and a wide range of molecular tools for genetic manipulation, thus making A. gossypii a valuable biotechnological chassis for metabolic engineering. A. gossypii has been shown to accumulate high levels of lipids in oil‐based culture media; however, the lipid biosynthesis capacity is rather limited when grown in sugar‐based culture media. In this study, by altering the fatty acyl‐CoA pool and manipulating the regulation of the main ∆9 desaturase gene, we have obtained A. gossypii strains with significantly increased (up to fourfold) de novo lipid biosynthesis using glucose as the only carbon source in the fermentation broth. Moreover, these strains were efficient biocatalysts for the conversion of carbohydrates from sugarcane molasses to biolipids, able to accumulate lipids up to 25% of its cell dry weight. Our results represent a proof of principle showing the promising potential of A. gossypii as a competitive microorganism for industrial biolipid production using cost‐effective feed stocks.