Studies on filamentous fungus Fusarium sp. accumulating hydroxy fatty acids

Abstract

Crude glycerol is produced as a by-product on a biodiesel production process. Effective utilization of this crude glycerol may help to reduce manufacturing costs and produce value-added products. We isolated microorganisms that grow in a medium containing crude glycerol as a major carbon source and analyzed their fatty acid composition. Fusarium sp. D2 was found to accumulate fatty acid secondary metabolites such as 10-hydroxystaric acid (HYB) and 10-oxostearic acid (KetoB). These fatty acids were converted form oleic acid containing crude glycerol as a component. We isolated a hydratase gene from strain D2 and characterized the hydratase by gene expression analysis using Escherichia coli. Strain D2 accumulates toxic fatty acids such as free fatty acids added in the medium. We aimed to use strain D2 as a host for the production of functional lipids that have been difficult to produce by fermentation. We tried to develop a host-vector system for strain D2. Here, we introduce studies on Fusarium sp. D2 accumulating hydroxy fatty acids.