Metabolic
engineering of non-photosynthetic microorganisms to increase
the utilization of CO2 has been focused on as a green strategy
to convert CO2 into valuable products such as fatty acids.
In this study, a CO2 utilization pathway involving carbonic
anhydrase and biotin carboxylase was formed to recycle CO2 in the oleaginous yeast Yarrowia lipolytica, thereby increasing the production of fatty acids. In the recombinant
strain in which the CO2 utilization pathway was introduced,
the production of fatty acids was 10.7 g/L, which was 1.5-fold higher
than that of the wild-type strain. The resulting strain had a 1.4-fold
increase in dry cell mass compared to the wild-type strain. In addition,
linoleic acid was 47.7% in the fatty acid composition of the final
strain, which was increased by 11.6% compared to the wild-type strain.
These results can be applied as an essential technology for developing
efficient and eco-friendly processes by directly utilizing CO2.