Improved SDA Production in High Lipid Accumulating Strain of Mucor circinelloides WJ11 by Genetic Modification

Stearidonic Acid (SDA; 18:4, n-3) is a ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid which is nutritionally important and has pharmaceutical applications. Hence, scientists are trying to construct SDA producing oleaginous microorganisms by genetic modification. Two enzymes, Delta-6 Desaturase (D6D) and ω-3 desaturase catalyze the reactions to produce SDA from Linoleic Acid (LA; 18:2, n-6). But the key enzyme, ω-3 desaturase converts LA to ALA and GLA to SDA is absent in high lipid accumulating Mucor circinelloides WJ11, retarding its ability to produce SDA. Therefore, in this study, we overexpressed fad3 gene from Arabidopsis thaliana in M. circinelloides WJ11 to produce SDA. Overexpression of fad3 gene in M. circinelloides WJ11 resulted in the production of 340 mg/l SDA. This research opened a new opportunity to make use of this fungus for industrial production of SDA.