A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
The role of MTHFDL in mediating intracellular lipogenesis in oleaginous Mortierella alpina
Authors: Wang, Hongchao; Wang, Qizai; Zhang, Chen; Chen, Haiqin; Lu, Wenwei; Gu, Zhennan; Zhao, Jianxin; Zhang, Hao; Chen, Yong Quan; Chen, Wei
Publisher: Society for General Microbiology
Publication year: 2020
Journal: Microbiology-sgm
Volume: 166
Issue: 7
First page : 617
Last page: 623
ISSN: 1350-0872
eISSN: 1465-2080
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1099/mic.0.000897
Publication's open availability at the time of reporting: No Open Access
Publication channel's open availability : Open Access publication channel
Web address : https://doi.org/10.1099/mic.0.000897
The oleaginous fungus Mortierella alpina can synthesize a variety of polyunsaturated fatty acids, which are used extensively in industry for the production of arachidonic acid (AA). NADPH is the limiting factor and critical reducing agent in lipid biosynthesis. In the folate cycle, methylenetetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase (MTHFDL) catalyzes the conversion of methylene tetrahydrofolate into 10-formyl-tetrahydrofolate with the reduction of NADP+ to NADPH. MTHFDL RNAi was used to investigate the role of the folate cycle in lipogenesis. Gene knockdown decreased the transcript levels of MTHFDL by about 50 % and attenuated cell fatty acid synthesis. The observation of decreased NADPH levels and downregulated NADPH-producing genes in response to MTHFDL RNAi indicates a novel aspect of the NADPH regulatory mechanism. Thus, our study demonstrates that MTHFDL plays key role in the mediation of NADPH in lipogenesis in M. alpina.
Funding information in the publication:
This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant nos 31820103010, 31530056, 31722041 and 31400038), the national first-class discipline program of Food Science and Technology (JUFSTR20180102) and the Collaborative Innovation Center of Food Safety and Quality Control in Jiangsu Province.
