A high-purity DHA cell factory created using metabolic engineering methods [Image: Wang Sen and Song Xiaojin]

Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, C22:6) is an important nutrient for the brain and visual development of newborns. It is widely used in the pharmaceutical and food industries.

Aurantiochytrium has become one of the representative strains for DHA production due to its high biomass and high lipid content.

Recently, researchers at the Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology (QIBEBT) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) have developed a novel strain producing high-purity DHA through a metabolic engineering strategy.

The enhanced DHA purity not only improves the product quality of DHA oil, but also reduces the purification processing cost.

Their work was published in the journal Agriculture and Food Chemistry on August 20.

Their strategy includes both partial deactivation of the competing pathway of DHA biosynthesis by disrupting one copy of the fatty acid synthase gene and strengthening of substrate supply and triacylglycerol synthesis by the overexpression of acetyl-CoA carboxylase and diacylglycerol acyltransferase.

The DHA contain of the mutant was 331 mg/g, of which DHA accounted for 61 percent of the total fatty acids.

Moreover, the cell growth rate, biomass, and lipid yield of the novel strain have not changed significantly, ensuring that the new strain can meet industrial requirements.

(Text by Wang Sen and Song Xiaojin)

For more information, please contact:

Cheng Jing

E-mail: chengjing@qibebt.ac.cn

Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology (QIBEBT),

Chinese Academy of Sciences

Source: Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology (QIBEBT),

Chinese Academy of Sciences