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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Extreme Microbiology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1416155
This article is part of the Research Topic Extremophiles: Environmental Adaptation Mechanisms, Modification to Synthetic Biology, and Industrial Application View all articles

Nitrogen Limitation-Induced Adaptive Response and Lipogenesis in the Antarctic Yeast Rhodotorula mucilaginosa M94C9

Provisionally accepted
Miguel Rosas-Paz Miguel Rosas-Paz 1,2Alberto Zamora-Bello Alberto Zamora-Bello 2,3Nayeli Torres-Ramírez Nayeli Torres-Ramírez 2Diana Villarreal-Huerta Diana Villarreal-Huerta 1,2Lucero Romero-Aguilar Lucero Romero-Aguilar 4Juan Pablo Pardo Juan Pablo Pardo 4Mohammed El Hafidi Mohammed El Hafidi 5Georgina Sandoval Georgina Sandoval 6Marcelo Baeza Marcelo Baeza 7Claudia Segal-Kischinevzky Claudia Segal-Kischinevzky 2James González James González 2*
  • 1 Posgrado en Ciencias Biológicas, Unidad de Posgrado, Edificio D, 1° Piso, Circuito de Posgrados, Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán, C.P. 04510, CDMX, Mexico
  • 2 Departamento de Biología Celular, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Avenida Universidad # 3000, Cd. Universitaria, 04510 Coyoacán, CDMX, Mexico
  • 3 Posgrado en Ciencias Bioquímicas, Unidad de Posgrado, Edificio D, 1° Piso, Circuito de Posgrados, Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán, C.P. 04510, CDMX, Mexico
  • 4 Departamento de Bioquímica, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Avenida Universidad # 3000, Cd. Universitaria, 04510 Coyoacán, CDMX, Mexico
  • 5 Departamento de Biomedicina Cardiovascular, Instituto Nacional de Cardiología Ignacio Chávez, CDMX, Mexico
  • 6 Laboratorio de Innovación en Bioenergéticos y Bioprocesos Avanzados, Unidad de Biotecnología Industrial, Centro de Investigación y Asistencia en Tecnología y Diseño del Estado de Jalisco A. C., Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
  • 7 Departamento de Ciencias Ecológicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The extremotolerant red yeast Rhodotorula mucilaginosa displays resilience to diverse environmental stressors, including cold, osmolarity, salinity, and oligotrophic conditions.Particularly, this yeast exhibits a remarkable ability to accumulate lipids and carotenoids in response to stress conditions. However, research into lipid biosynthesis has been hampered by limited genetic tools and a scarcity of studies on adaptive responses to nutrient stressors stimulating lipogenesis. This study investigated the impact of nitrogen stress on the adaptive response in Antarctic yeast R. mucilaginosa M94C9. Varied nitrogen availability reveals a nitrogen-dependent modulation of biomass and lipid droplet production, accompanied by significant ultrastructural changes to withstand nitrogen starvation. In silico analysis identifies open reading frames of genes encoding key lipogenesis enzymes, including acetyl-CoA carboxylase (Acc1), fatty acid synthases 1 and 2 (Fas1/Fas2), and acyl-CoA diacylglycerol O-acyltransferase 1 (Dga1). Further investigation into the expression profiles of RmACC1, RmFAS1, RmFAS2, and RmDGA1 genes under nitrogen stress revealed that the prolonged upregulation of the RmDGA1 gene is a molecular indicator of lipogenesis. Subsequent fatty acid profiling unveiled an accumulation of oleic and palmitic acids under nitrogen limitation during the stationary phase. This investigation enhances our understanding of nitrogen stress adaptation and lipid biosynthesis, offering valuable insights into R. mucilaginosa M94C9 for potential industrial applications in the future.

    Keywords: R. mucilaginosa, Lipogenesis, Nitrogen starvation, oleaginous yeast, neutral lipid production

    Received: 11 Apr 2024; Accepted: 02 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Rosas-Paz, Zamora-Bello, Torres-Ramírez, Villarreal-Huerta, Romero-Aguilar, Pardo, El Hafidi, Sandoval, Baeza, Segal-Kischinevzky and González. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: James González, Departamento de Biología Celular, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Avenida Universidad # 3000, Cd. Universitaria, 04510 Coyoacán, CDMX, Mexico

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