Fungal mycelia as a novel source of eicosapentaenoic acid: Activation of enzyme(s) involved in eicosapentaenoic acid production at low temperature

Abstract

Several filamentous fungi belonging to the genus Mortierella were found to produce large amounts of 5,8,11,14,17- cis - eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) in their mycelia only when grown at low temperature (12°C), i.e., not at physiological growth temperature (20–28°C). The results of experiments with cell-free extracts suggested that this unique phenomenon is due to activation of enzyme(s) involved in EPA formation at low temperature. Mortierella alpina 1S-4 produced 0.3 g/l of EPA (27 mg/g dry mycelia). This high productivity show the practical significance of these novel EPA producers.