Project description:In the absence of light, the heterotrophic microalga Crypthecodinium cohnii accumulates lipids rich in docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). However, limited genetic data restricts understanding of its metabolism, especially DHA synthesis with ethanol. Next-generation sequencing identified numerous transcripts for fatty acid and carbohydrate production. qRT-PCR confirmed increased expression of genes linked to energy, carbohydrate, lipid, terpenoid, and polyketide metabolism. Upregulation of genes in ethanol metabolism, fatty acid synthesis, glycerophospholipid, and pyruvate pathways raised acetyl-CoA and key metabolite precursors.
Project description:To overcome the inhibition caused by the fermentation supernatant in the late fermentation stage of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)-producing Crypthecodinium cohnii, fermentation supernatant-based adaptive laboratory evolution (FS-ALE) was conducted. The cell growth and DHA productivity of the evolved strain (FS280) obtained after 280 adaptive cycles corresponding to 840 days of evolution were increased by 161.87% and 311.23%, respectively, at 72 h under stress conditions and increased by 19.87% and 51.79% without any stress compared with the starting strain, demonstrating the effectiveness of FS-ALE.