Production of arachidonic acid by Mortierella fungi

Summary Various Mortierella fungi were assayed for their productivity of arachidonic acid (ARA). Only strains belonging to the subgenus Mortierella accumulated detectable amounts of ARA together with dihomo--linolenic acid. None of the strains belonging to the subgenus Micromucor tested accumulated these C-20 fatty acids, although they produced a C-18 fatty acid, -linolenic enic acid. A soil isolate, M. alpina 1S-4, was found to grow well in a liquid medium containing glucose and yeast extract as carbon and nitrogen sources, respectively. Addition of several natural oils such as olive and soybean oils to the medium increased the accumulation of ARA. Under optimal culture conditions in a 5-1 bench-scale fermentor, the fungus produced 3.6 g/l of ARA in 7 days. On cultivation for 10 days at 28°C in a 2000-1 fermentor, the same fungus produced 22.5 kg/kl mycelia (dry weight) containing 9.9 kg lipids, in which ARA comprised 31.0% of the total fatty acids. On standing the harvested mycelia for a further 6 days, major mycelial fatty acids (i.e. palmitic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid, etc.) other than ARA rapidly decomposed and the ARA content of the total fatty acids reached nearly 70%.