Lipidomic and transcriptomic analyses provide insights into the dynamic changes in lipid metabolism across growth phases in oleaginous yeast Rhodotorula glutinis ZHK

Microbial lipids are a diverse class of valuable biomolecules with multifarious applications in the food, pharmaceutical, and biofuel industries. Rhodotorula glutinis is a well-studied oleaginous yeast that has the superior capability to synthesize abundant lipids from low-cost substrates. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the variations in lipid profiles in R. glutinis ZHK between different growth phases through lipidomic and transcriptomic technologies. The results indicated that the yield of most lipids was gradually raised with the increase in fermentation times, except for triacylglycerols, which might be attributed to the fact that many lipogenic genes were consistently up-regulated. Meanwhile, as compared to the control (1 d), the significantly down-regulated genes involved in triacylglycerol synthesis at stationary-late growth phases resulted in a continuous decrease in triacylglycerol production. Moreover, the acyl-protein thioesterase genes APT1/APT2 might play central regulatory roles in lipid metabolism across growth phases. These findings not only enhanced our understanding of the lipid metabolism in R. glutinis but also laid the molecular groundwork to further enhance their productivity through metabolic or genetic manipulation.