Expression of VHb Improved Lipid Production in Rhodosporidium toruloides

Shuang Wang, Rasool Kamal, Yue Zhang, Renhui Zhou, Liting Lv, Qitian Huang, Siriguleng Qian, Sufang Zhang and Zongbao Kent Zhao
Additional contact information
Shuang Wang: School of Biological Engineering, Dalian Polytechnic University, Dalian 116034, China
Rasool Kamal: Laboratory of Biotechnology, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, CAS, Dalian 116023, China
Yue Zhang: Laboratory of Biotechnology, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, CAS, Dalian 116023, China
Renhui Zhou: Laboratory of Biotechnology, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, CAS, Dalian 116023, China
Liting Lv: Laboratory of Biotechnology, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, CAS, Dalian 116023, China
Qitian Huang: Laboratory of Biotechnology, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, CAS, Dalian 116023, China
Siriguleng Qian: School of Biological Engineering, Dalian Polytechnic University, Dalian 116034, China
Sufang Zhang: Laboratory of Biotechnology, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, CAS, Dalian 116023, China
Zongbao Kent Zhao: Laboratory of Biotechnology, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, CAS, Dalian 116023, China

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 17, 1-12

Abstract: The oleaginous yeast Rhodosporidium toruloides has emerged as a robust host for production of microbial lipids as alternative biofuel feedstocks. Oxygen supply is a limiting factor for microbial lipid production, as lipid biosynthesis is highly oxygen-demanding. Vitreoscilla hemoglobin (VHb) is a protein capable of promoting oxygen delivery for anabolism. In this study, we developed R. toruloides with VHb expression for improved lipid production. The VHb expression cassette was integrated into the R. toruloides chromosome via the Agrobacterium -mediated transformation. In shake flask cultures, the engineered strain 4#-13 produced 34% more lipids than the parental strain did. Results obtained under reduced aeration conditions in 3 L bioreactor showed that lipid titer and lipid yield of the engineered strain 4#-13 were 116% and 71%, respectively, higher than those of the parental strain. Under high cell density culture conditions, the engineered strain 4#-13 grew faster and produced 72% more lipids. Our results demonstrated that the VHb gene is functional in R. toruloides for promoting lipid production. The strains described here may be further engineered by integrating extra genetic parts to attain robust producers for more valuable products. This should improve the economics of microbial lipids to facilitate a sustainable production of biodiesel and other lipid-based biofuels.

Keywords: microbial lipids; oxygen supply; Rhodosporidium toruloides; Vitreoscilla hemoglobin (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/17/4446/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/17/4446/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:13:y:2020:i:17:p:4446-:d:405148

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().