<it>De novo</it> synthesis of <it>trans</it>-10, <it>cis</it>-12 conjugated linoleic acid in oleaginous yeast <it>Yarrowia Lipolytica</it>

• Main Authors: Zhang Baixi, Rong Chunchi, Chen Haiqin, Song Yuanda, Zhang Hao, Chen Wei
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: BMC 2012-07-01
• Series: Microbial Cell Factories
• Subjects: Conjugated linoleic acid; Linoleate isomerase; Codon optimization; Multi-copy integration; <it>Propionibacterium acnes</it>; <it>Yarrowia lipolytica</it>
• Online Access: http://www.microbialcellfactories.com/content/11/1/51

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) has many well-documented beneficial physiological effects. Due to the insufficient natural supply of CLA and low specificity of chemically produced CLA, an effective and isomer-specific production process is required for medicinal and nutritional purposes.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The linoleic acid isomerase gene from <it>Propionibacterium acnes</it> was expressed in <it>Yarrowia lipolytica</it> Polh. Codon usage optimization of the PAI and multi-copy integration significantly improved the expression level of PAI in <it>Y. lipolytica.</it> The percentage of <it>trans</it>-10, <it>cis</it>-12 CLA was six times higher in yeast carrying the codon-optimized gene than in yeast carrying the native gene. In combination with multi-copy integration, the production yield was raised to approximately 30-fold. The amount of <it>trans</it>-10, <it>cis</it>-12 CLA reached 5.9% of total fatty acid yield in transformed <it>Y. lipolytica</it>.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This is the first report of production of <it>trans</it>-10, <it>cis</it>-12 CLA by the oleaginous yeast <it>Y. lipolytica</it>, using glucose as the sole carbon source through expression of linoleic acid isomerase from <it>Propionibacterium acnes</it>.</p>