Role of Cytosolic Malic Enzyme in Oleaginicity of High-Lipid-Producing Fungal Strain WJ11.

, an oleaginous filamentous fungus, is gaining popularity due to its ability to synthesize significant amounts of lipids containing γ-linolenic acid (GLA) that have important health benefits. Malic enzyme (ME), which serves as the main source of NADPH in some fungi, has been found to regulate lipid accumulation in oleaginous fungi. In the present study, the role of two cytosolic ME genes, and in the lipid accumulation of the high-lipid-producing strain WJ11, was evaluated. Strains overexpressing and showed a 9.8- and 6.4-fold rise in specific ME activity, respectively, and an elevation of the lipid content by 23.2% and 5.8%, respectively, suggesting that these genes are involved in lipid biosynthesis. Due to increased lipid accumulation, overall GLA content in biomass was observed to be elevated by 11.42% and 16.85% in and overexpressing strains, respectively. Our study gives an important insight into different studies exploring the role of the gene, while we have for the first time investigated the role of the gene in the WJ11 strain.