Role of Snf-β in lipid accumulation in the high lipid‐producing fungus Mucor circinelloides WJ11

Microbial Cell Factories

Kiren Mustafa¹  Abu Bakr Ahmad Fazili¹  Shaoqi Li¹  Wu Yang¹  Junhuan Yang¹  Shaista Nosheen¹  Yuanda Song¹  Tahira Naz¹  Syed Ammar Hussain²  Hassan Mohamed³  Yusuf Nazir⁴ 

[1] Colin Ratledge Center for Microbial Lipids, School of Agricultural Engineering and Food Science, Shandong University of Technology, 255000, Zibo, Shandong, China;Colin Ratledge Center for Microbial Lipids, School of Agricultural Engineering and Food Science, Shandong University of Technology, 255000, Zibo, Shandong, China;Department of Biology, South Texas Center of Emerging Infectious Diseases (STCEID), University of Texas, 78249, San Antonio, TX, USA;Colin Ratledge Center for Microbial Lipids, School of Agricultural Engineering and Food Science, Shandong University of Technology, 255000, Zibo, Shandong, China;Department of Botany and Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Al-Azhar University, 71524, Assiut, Egypt;Colin Ratledge Center for Microbial Lipids, School of Agricultural Engineering and Food Science, Shandong University of Technology, 255000, Zibo, Shandong, China;Department of Food Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia;

关键词: Mucor circinelloides;    Lipid accumulation;    Snf-β;    acetyl-CoA carboxylase;    Gene expression;    Oleaginous fungus;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12934-021-01545-y

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundMucor circinelloides WJ11 is a high-lipid producing strain and an excellent producer of γ-linolenic acid (GLA) which is crucial for human health. We have previously identified genes that encode for AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) complex in M. circinelloides which is an important regulator for lipid accumulation. Comparative transcriptional analysis between the high and low lipid-producing strains of M. circinelloides showed a direct correlation in the transcriptional level of AMPK genes with lipid metabolism. Thus, the role of Snf-β, which encodes for β subunit of AMPK complex, in lipid accumulation of the WJ11 strain was evaluated in the present study.ResultsThe results showed that lipid content of cell dry weight in Snf-β knockout strain was increased by 32 % (from 19 to 25 %). However, in Snf-β overexpressing strain, lipid content of cell dry weight was decreased about 25 % (from 19 to 14.2 %) compared to the control strain. Total fatty acid analysis revealed that the expression of the Snf-β gene did not significantly affect the fatty acid composition of the strains. However, GLA content in biomass was increased from 2.5 % in control strain to 3.3 % in Snf-β knockout strain due to increased lipid accumulation and decreased to 1.83 % in Snf-β overexpressing strain. AMPK is known to inactivate acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) which catalyzes the rate-limiting step in lipid synthesis. Snf-β manipulation also altered the expression level of the ACC1 gene which may indicate that Snf-β control lipid metabolism by regulating ACC1 gene.ConclusionsOur results suggested that Snf-β gene plays an important role in regulating lipid accumulation in M. circinelloides WJ11. Moreover, it will be interesting to evaluate the potential of other key subunits of AMPK related to lipid metabolism. Better insight can show us the way to manipulate these subunits effectively for upscaling the lipid production. Up to our knowledge, it is the first study to investigate the role of Snf-β in lipid accumulation in M. circinelloides.

【 授权许可】

CC BY