Elucidation of mechanism for lipid production in oleaginous yeast

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K07372
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Applied microbiology
• Research Institution: Nigata University of Phermacy and Applied Life Sciences
• Principal Investigator: Takaku Hiroaki 新潟薬科大学, 応用生命科学部, 教授 (70350717)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 油脂酵母 / Lipomyces / 油脂蓄積変異株 / 遺伝子発現

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Biodiesel, one of next generation fuels, is mainly produced by transesterification of edible vegetable oils. The usage of edible oils as a biodiesel feedstock is often controversial because of the competition with food production. Therefore, we noted the oleaginous yeast Lipomyces starkeyi, which can convert non-edible biomass-derived carbohydrates to lipid. L. starkeyi is an excellent lipid producer that is able to accumulate up to 70% of its biomass as triacylglycerols. However, there are issues of lipid productivity for commercial applications.
In this study, we obtained of L. starkeyi mutants accumulating a high level of lipid. We extracted genes related to lipid biosynthesis by comparing gene expression profiles in the wild-type and mutants. The high-level expression of those extracted genes in the wild -type showed the high-level lipid production.

Free Research Field

応用微生物学