The oxidative pentose phosphate pathway is the primary source of NADPH for lipid overproduction from glucose in Yarrowia lipolytica

Oleaginous microbes represent an attractive means of converting a diverse range of feedstocks into oils that can be transesterified to biodiesel. However, the mechanism of lipid overproduction in these organisms is incompletely understood, hindering the development of strategies for engineering superior biocatalysts for “single-cell oil” production. In particular, it is unclear which pathways are used to generate the large quantities of NADPH required for overproduction of the highly reduced fatty acid species. While early studies implicated malic enzyme as having a key role in production of lipogenic NADPH in oleaginous fungi, several recent reports have cast doubts as to whether malic enzyme may contribute to production of lipogenic NADPH in the model oleaginous yeast Yarrowia lipolytica. To address this problem we have used 13C-Metabolic Flux Analysis to estimate the metabolic flux distributions during lipid accumulation in two Y. lipolytica strains; a control strain and a previously published engineered strain capable of producing lipids at roughly twice the yield. We observe a dramatic rearrangement of the metabolic flux distribution in the engineered strain which supports lipid overproduction. The NADPH-producing flux through the oxidative Pentose Phosphate Pathway is approximately doubled in the engineered strain in response to the roughly two-fold increase in fatty acid biosynthesis, while the flux through malic enzyme does not differ significantly between the two strains. Moreover, the estimated rate of NADPH production in the oxidative Pentose Phosphate Pathway is in good agreement with the estimated rate of NADPH consumption in fatty acid biosynthesis in both strains. These results suggest the oxidative Pentose Phosphate Pathway is the primary source of lipogenic NADPH in Y. lipolytica.