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Production of Vitamin B2 and a Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid by Fungi

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Industrial Applications

Part of the book series: The Mycota ((MYCOTA,volume 10))

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Abstract

Vitamin B2 and arachidonic acid, both needed in food or feed, are produced by filamentous fungi on a scale of 1000 t/year. After 50 years of research and development, vitamin B2 production with Ashbya gossypii, a hemiascomycete, has won a competition with chemical synthesis by combining classical strain improvement, genetic engineering, and process optimization. Screening for antimetabolite resistance, overexpression, and disruption of genes were applied, resulting in a metabolically designed cellular factory. But although the genome of A. gossypii has been sequenced and analytical tools are highly developed, important questions are still open, e.g. concerning excretion of the vitamin. Arachidonic acid is a long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid used for infant formula to support the development of the child’s brain. Mortierella alpina, a zygomycete, accumulates lipids rich in arachidonic acid when growth becomes limited, e.g. after consumption of the nitrogen source. The first steps in pathway engineering were done.

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  1. Fachbereich Bio-, Chemie- und Verfahrenstechnik, Hochschule Lausitz (FH), Großenhainer Str. 57, 01958, Senftenberg, Germany

    K.-Peter Stahmann

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Correspondence to K.-Peter Stahmann .

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  1. , Department of Biotechnology, International Graduate School of Zittau, Markt 23, Zittau, 02763, Sachsen, Germany

    Martin Hofrichter

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Stahmann, KP. (2011). Production of Vitamin B2 and a Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid by Fungi. In: Hofrichter, M. (eds) Industrial Applications. The Mycota, vol 10. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-11458-8_11

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