Thraustochytrids are unicellular fungus-like protists and are well known for their ability to produce interesting nutraceutical compounds. Significant efforts have been made to improve their efficient production of important fatty acids (FAs), mostly by optimizing fermentation conditions and selecting highly productive thraustochytrid strains. Furthermore, noticeable improvements have been made in understanding the mechanism of FA biosynthesis, allowing for a better understanding of how thraustochytrids assemble these unique metabolites and how their biosynthesis is coupled with other related pathways. This review summarizes recent achievements on two major FA biosynthesis pathways, the standard pathway and the polyketide synthase pathway, and detail features of individual enzymes involved in FA biosynthesis, biotechnological advances in pathway engineering and enzyme characterization, and the discovery of other pathways that affect the efficiency of FA accumulation. Perspectives of biotechnological potential application of thraustochytrids are also discussed.
Keywords: Docosahexaenoic acid; Fatty acid biosynthesis pathway; Polyunsaturated fatty acids; Thraustochytrids.