Phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH) catalyses the irreversible hydroxylation of phenylalanine to tyrosine, which is the rate-limiting reaction in phenylalanine metabolism in animals. A variety of polyunsaturated fatty acids can be synthesized by the lipid-producing fungus Mortierella alpina, which has a wide range of industrial applications in the production of arachidonic acid. In this study, RNA interference (RNAi) with the gene PAH was used to explore the role of phenylalanine hydroxylation in lipid biosynthesis in M. alpina. Our results indicated that PAH knockdown decreased the PAH transcript level by approximately 55% and attenuated cellular fatty acid biosynthesis. Furthermore, the level of NADPH, which is a critical reducing agent and the limiting factor in lipogenesis, was decreased in response to PAH RNAi, in addition to the downregulated transcription of other genes involved in NADPH production. Our study indicates that PAH is part of an overall enzymatic and regulatory mechanism supplying NADPH required for lipogenesis in M. alpina.
Keywords: Mortierella alpina; NADPH; lipogenesis; phenylalanine hydroxylase; phenylalanine hydroxylation.