Endophytic Fungi: Are they Potential Candidates for the Production of Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids?

One hundred and fifty endophytic fungi were isolated from different plant samples. Their total lipid and fatty acid profile were analysed. Our results show that the total lipid content in 50% of the isolated endophytic fungi ranged between10-14% and in the remaining 50% ranged between 7-9%. None of the endophytic fungi tested were found to be oleaginous in nature (accumulating more than 20% lipid). The endophytic fungi produced saturated fatty acids i.e palmitic acid, stearic acid, and monounsaturated- oleic acid in the range of 13-23%, linoleic acid from 40-50%, and alpha-linolenic acid- 2-14%. Few endophytic fungi accumulated arachidonic acid in a very low concentration i.e. 0.1-0.3%. The results of our study suggest that, endophytic fungi are capable of producing the precursors of PUFAs i.e. linoleic acid and alpha-linolenic acid but not the pharmaceutically important PUFA’s as such. Our work also revealed that, there is not much difference in fatty acid profile of all the endophytic fungi isolated by us, irrespective of the differences in the living conditions (such as nutritional and environmental parameters) of the plants from which they were isolate

The state of Fortran

A community of developers has formed to modernize the Fortran ecosystem. In this article, we describe the high-level features of Fortran that continue to make it a good choice for scientists and engineers in the 21st century. Ongoing efforts include the development of a Fortran standard library and package manager, the fostering of a friendly and welcoming online community, improved compiler support, and language feature development. The lessons learned are common across contemporary programming languages and help reduce the learning curve and increase adoption of Fortran

Regulacia mikrobialnej biosyntezy polynenasytenych mastnych kyselin

Available from Slovak Centre of Scientific and Technical Information, under shelf-number: A582778 / Slovenska Technicka Univerzita v BratislaveSIGLESKSlovak Republi

Microcultivation and FTIR spectroscopy-based screening revealed a nutrient-induced co-production of high-value metabolites in oleaginous Mucoromycota fungi

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Biotransformation of animal fat by-products into ARA-enriched fermented bioproducts by solid-state fermentation of Mortierella alpine.

Solid-state fermentation (SSF) is a powerful fermentation technology for valorizing rest materials and by-products of different origin. Oleaginous Zygomycetes fungi are often used in SSF as an effective cell factory able to valorize a wide range of hydrophilic and hydrophobic substrates and produce lipid-enriched bioproducts. In this study, for the first time, the strain Mortierella alpina was used in SSF for the bioconversion of animal fat by-products into high value fermented bioproducts enriched with arachidonic acid (ARA). Two cereals-based matrixes mixed with four different concentrations of animal fat by-product were evaluated for finding optimal conditions of a fat-based SSF. All obtained fermented bioproducts were found to be enriched with ARA. The highest substrate utilization (25.8%) was reached for cornmeal and it was almost double than for the respective wheat bran samples. Similarly, total fatty acid content in a fermented bioproduct prepared on cornmeal is almost four times higher in contrast to wheat bran-based bioproduct. Although in general the addition of an animal fat by-product caused a gradual cessation of ARA yield in the obtained fermented bioproduct, the content of ARA in fungal biomass was higher. Thus, M. alpina CCF2861 effectively transformed exogenous fatty acids from animal fat substrate to ARA. Maximum yield of 32.1 mg of ARA/g of bioproduct was reached when using cornmeal mixed with 5% (w/w) of an animal fat by-product as substrate. Furthermore, implementation of attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy in characterization of obtained SSF bioproducts was successfully tested as an alternative tool for complex analysis, compared to traditional time-consuming methods

Fluorescence lifetime imaging of red yeast Cystofilobasidium capitatum during growth

Red yeast Cystofilobasidium capitatum autofluorescence was studied by means of confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) to reveal distribution of carotenoids inside the cells. Yeasts were cultivated in 2L fermentor on glucose medium at permanent light exposure and aeration. Samples were collected at different times for CLSM, gravimetric determination of biomass and HPLC determination of pigments. To compare FLIM (Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging Microscopy) images and coupled data (obtained by CLSM) with model systems, FLIM analysis was performed on micelles of SDS:ergosterol and SDS:coenzyme Q with different content of ergosterol and coenzyme Q, respectively, and with constant addition of beta-carotene. Liposomes lecithin:ergosterol:beta-carotene were investigated too. Two different intracellular forms of carotenoids were observed during most of cultivations, with third form appeared at the beginning of stationary phase. Observed behavior is probably due to formation of some kind of carotenoid protective system in membranes of different compartments of yeast cell, especially cytoplasmic membrane

Yarrowia lipolytica as a Platform for Punicic Acid Production

International audiencePunicic acid (PuA) is a polyunsaturated fatty acid with significant medical, biological, and nutraceutical properties. The primary source of punicic acid is the pomegranate seed oil obtained from fruits of trees that are mainly cultivated in subtropical and tropical climates. To establish sustainable production of PuA, various recombinant microorganisms and plants have been explored as platforms with limited efficiencies. In this study, the oleaginous yeast Yarrowia lipolytica was employed as a host for PuA production. First, growth and lipid accumulation of Y. lipolytica were evaluated in medium supplemented with pomegranate seed oil, resulting in the accumulation of lipids up to 31.2%, consisting of 22% PuA esterified in the fraction of glycerolipids. In addition, lipid-engineered Y. lipolytica strains, transformed with the bifunctional fatty acid conjugase/desaturase from Punica granatum (PgFADX), showed the ability to accumulate PuA de novo. PuA was detected in both polar and neutral lipid fractions, especially in phosphatidylcholine and triacylglycerols. Promoter optimization for PgFADX expression resulted in improved accumulation of PuA from 0.9 to 1.8 mg/g of dry cell weight. The best-producing strain expressing PgFADX under the control of a strong erythritol-inducible promoter produced 36.6 mg/L PuA. These results demonstrate that the yeast Y. lipolytica is a promising host for PuA production