Lipid and γ-linolenic acid accumulation in strains of zygomycetes growing on glucose

Strains of Zygomycetes, belonging to the genera Zygorhynchus, Mortierella, Rhizopus, Mucor, and Cunninghamella, when cultivated on glucose produced significant quantities of gamma -linolenic acid (GLA). After exhaustion of the nitrogen source from the culture medium, ail strains accumulated cellular lipids in concentrations ranging from 10 to 28% (oil/dry mycelium). However, in some strains after the depletion of the carbon source (glucose) from the culture medium, a reconsumption of the accumulated oil and synthesis of fat-tree cell material was observed. Accumulation of large amounts of oil in the mycelium resulted in the production of oil with low GLA content. Rhizopus stolonifer strain LGAM (9)1, and Cunninghamella sp. strain LGAM (9)2 produced more than 30 mg GLA/g of dry cellular mass. Cunninghamella sp. accumulated 28.1% oil/dry cellular mass, which contained 11.9% CLA. The production of GLA was 260 mg/L of culture medium.