Abstract
Arachidonic acid (AA) has a wide range of applications in medicine, pharmacology, diet, infant nutrition, and agriculture, due to its unique biological properties. The microbiological processes involved in AA production usually require carbohydrate substrates. In this paper, we propose a method for AA production from glycerol, an inexpensive and renewable carbon substrate that is produced by the fungal strain, Mortierella alpina NRRL-A-10995. Our experimental results showed that the optimum pH values required for fungal growth and the production of lipids and AA were different and depended on the growth phase of the fungus. The AA production was shown to be extremely sensitive to acidic pH values and was completely inhibited at a pH of 3.0. The optimum temperature for AA production was 20–22 °C. Continuous cultivation of M. alpina occurred in a glycerol-containing medium, and growth limitations were implemented through the addition of nitrogen and the selection of optimal conditions (pH 6.0, 20 °C). This ensured that active AA production occurred (25.2% of lipids and 3.1% of biomass), with the product yield from the consumed glycerol being 1.6% by mass and 3.4% by energy.
Highlights
Arachidonic acid (20:4, 5,8,11,14-cis-eicosatetraenoic acid, AA) belongs to the ω-6 group of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), and plays an important role in metabolic processes as a precursor to prostaglandins, leukotrienes, and a number of eicosanoids
We have previously shown that both pure glycerol and glycerol-containing wastes of biodiesel production can be successfully used for AA synthesis by selected M. alpina strains [20,29]
The aim of this work was to study the effects of pH and temperature on the synthesis of lipids and AA by the fungal strain, M. alpina NRRL-A-10995, when it is grown on glycerol under nitrogen limitations
Summary
Arachidonic acid (20:4, 5,8,11,14-cis-eicosatetraenoic acid, AA) belongs to the ω-6 group of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), and plays an important role in metabolic processes as a precursor to prostaglandins, leukotrienes, and a number of eicosanoids. The role of AA as an inductor (elicitor) of protective functions in plants has been studied in detail; the application of AA in very low concentrations has been shown to increase a plant’s resistance to bacterial and fungal pathogens [4,5]. The limited supply of natural sources of AA necessitated the development of microbiological AA production with the use of highly effective strains–producers. Microbial methods of AA production with the use of various strains of fungi belonging to the genus Mortierella have been developed in Europe, China, Japan, and the United States
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