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Efficient Co-production of Docosahexaenoic Acid Oil and Carotenoids in Aurantiochytrium sp. Using a Light Intensity Gradient Strategy

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Abstract

Aurantiochytrium is a promising source of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and carotenoids, but their synthesis is influenced by environmental stress factors. In this study, the effect of different light intensities on the fermentation of DHA oil and carotenoids using Aurantiochytrium sp. TZ209 was investigated. The results showed that dark culture and low light intensity conditions did not affect the normal growth of cells, but were not conducive to the accumulation of carotenoids. High light intensity promoted the synthesis of DHA and carotenoids, but caused cell damage, resulting in a decrease of oil yield. To solve this issue, a light intensity gradient strategy was developed, which markedly improved the DHA and carotenoid content without reducing the oil yield. This strategy produced 30.16 g/L of microalgal oil with 15.11 g/L DHA, 221 µg/g astaxanthin, and 386 µg/g β-carotene. This work demonstrates that strain TZ209 is a promising DHA producer and provides an efficient strategy for the co-production of DHA oil together with carotenoids.

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Data Availability

All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article.

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Funding

This work was financially supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province (LGG20B060001 and LQ21B060002), the Key Research & Development Plan of Zhejiang Province (2020C02049), Science and Technology Plan Project of Taizhou (22gyb06 and 21gya26) and National College Students Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Program (202110350022).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Life Science, Taizhou University, No. 1139 Shifu Road, Taizhou, 318000, People’s Republic of China

    Feng-Wei Yin, Ci-Tong Zhan, Jiao Huang, Xiao-Long Sun, Long-Fei Yin, Wei-Long Zheng, Xi Luo, Ying-Ying Zhang & Yong-Qian Fu

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  1. Feng-Wei Yin
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  2. Ci-Tong Zhan
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  7. Xi Luo
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Feng-Wei Yin: formal analysis, methodology, writing—original draft, writing—review and editing. Ci-Tong Zhan, Jiao Huang: formal analysis, investigation. Xiao-Long Sun, Xi Luo, Long-Fei Yin: investigation, validation. Ying-Ying Zhang, Wei-Long Zheng: investigation, data curation. Yong-Qian Fu: conceptualization, formal analysis, writing—review and editing, advisor. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Yong-Qian Fu.

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Yin, FW., Zhan, CT., Huang, J. et al. Efficient Co-production of Docosahexaenoic Acid Oil and Carotenoids in Aurantiochytrium sp. Using a Light Intensity Gradient Strategy. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 195, 623–638 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-022-04134-w

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