LPIN2 is the phosphatase dominating the penultimate step of neutral lipid biosynthesis in .

amoebae store surplus fatty acids from the diet in form of lipid droplets. Some of the enzymes governing neutral lipid synthesis are already known. For the phosphatidic acid-specific phosphatases, six genes were found, one of which was automatically annotated as LPIN2. Two GFP-tagged variants of LPIN2 homogeneously distribute in the cytoplasm and no organelle association was observed. mutants contain less than 17% residual amount of the major neutral lipid species, but phospholipid amounts are not obviously affected. A growth retardation on bacteria as food source may suggest that lipid droplets serve to detoxify excess free fatty acids.