Species of Schizochytrium are well known for their remarkable ability to produce lipids intracellularly. However, during their lipid accumulation, reactive oxygen species (ROS) are generated inevitably as byproducts, which if in excess results in lipid peroxidation. To alleviate such ROS-induced damage, seven different natural antioxidants (ascorbic acid, α-tocopherol, tea extract, melatonin, mannitol, sesamol, and butylated hydroxytoluene) were evaluated for their effects on the lipid accumulation in Schizochytrium sp. PKU#Mn4 using a fractional factorial design. Among the tested antioxidants, mannitol showed the best increment (44.98%) in total fatty acids concentration. However, the interaction effects of mannitol (1 g/L) and ascorbic acid (1 g/L) resulted in 2.26 ± 0.27 g/L and 1.45 ± 0.04 g/L of saturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids (SFA and PUFA), respectively, in batch fermentation. These concentrations were further increased to 7.68 ± 0.37 g/L (SFA) and 5.86 ± 0.03 g/L (PUFA) through fed-batch fermentation. Notably, the interaction effects yielded 103.7% and 49.6% increment in SFA and PUFA concentrations in batch fermentation. The possible mechanisms underlining those increments were an increased maximum growth rate of strain PKU#Mn4, alleviated ROS level, and the differential expression of lipid biosynthetic genes andupregulated catalase gene. This study provides an applicable strategy for improving the accumulation of SFA and PUFA in thraustochytrids by exogenous antioxidants and the underlying mechanisms.
Keywords: antioxidants; polyunsaturated fatty acids; reactive oxygen species; saturated fatty acids; thraustochytrids; transcriptomics.