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Combined mutagenesis of Rhodosporidium toruloides for improved production of carotenoids and lipids

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Abstract

Objectives

To improve production of lipids and carotenoids by the oleaginous yeast Rhodosporidium toruloides by screening mutant strains.

Results

Upon physical mutagenesis of the haploid strain R. toruloides np11 with an atmospheric and room temperature plasma method followed by chemical mutagenesis with nitrosoguanidine, a mutant strain, R. toruloides XR-2, formed dark-red colonies on a screening plate. When cultivated in nitrogen-limited media, XR-2 cells grew slower but accumulated 0.23 g lipids/g cell dry wt and 0.75 mg carotenoids/g CDW. To improve its production capacity, different amino acids and vitamins were supplemented. p-Aminobenzoic acid and tryptophan had beneficial effects on cell growth. When cultivated in nitrogen-limited media in the presence of selected vitamins, XR-2 accumulated 0.41 g lipids/g CDW and 0.69 mg carotenoids/g CDW.

Conclusions

A mutant R. toruloides strain with improved production profiles for lipids and carotenoids was obtained, indicating its potential to use combined mutagenesis for a more productive phenotype.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21325627).

Supporting Information

Supplementary Figure 1—Growth curve of Rhodosporidium toruloides np11 at 30 °C in YEPD medium.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Food Science & Technology, Dalian Polytechnic University, 1 Qinggongyuan, Dalian, 116034, China

    Chaolei Zhang, Han Wang, Shan Xiao & Jihui Wang

  2. Division of Biotechnology, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, CAS, 457 Zhongshan Road, Dalian, 116023, China

    Chaolei Zhang, Hongwei Shen, Xibin Zhang, Xue Yu & Zongbao K. Zhao

Authors
  1. Chaolei Zhang
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  2. Hongwei Shen
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  3. Xibin Zhang
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  4. Xue Yu
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  5. Han Wang
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  6. Shan Xiao
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  7. Jihui Wang
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  8. Zongbao K. Zhao
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Zongbao K. Zhao.

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Supplementary material 1 (DOC 113 kb)

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Zhang, C., Shen, H., Zhang, X. et al. Combined mutagenesis of Rhodosporidium toruloides for improved production of carotenoids and lipids. Biotechnol Lett 38, 1733–1738 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10529-016-2148-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10529-016-2148-6

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