Scientists in China have created a special yeast strain that can produce large amounts of palmitoleic acid—an omega-7 fatty acid known for its health benefits, including fighting inflammation and supporting metabolism.
This breakthrough could make it easier and cheaper to produce this valuable nutrient without relying on rare plants.
The research team from the Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology (QIBEBT), part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, published their findings in the journal Biotechnology for Biofuels and Bioproducts.
They used a type of yeast called Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which is commonly used in baking and brewing.
While this yeast naturally produces a small amount of palmitoleic acid, its low fat content has made it unsuitable for large-scale production—until now.
To solve this problem, the team used a two-step approach. First, they created a large collection of mutant yeast cells using both a special antibiotic called zeocin and a technique known as Atmospheric and Room Temperature Plasma (ARTP), which introduces random changes into the yeast’s DNA.
Then, they used an advanced sorting system called FlowRACS—a type of laser-based flow cytometry—to scan and select the best-performing cells without using any chemical stains or genetic markers.
This powerful tool allowed the scientists to find a yeast mutant they named MU2R48, which produces 40.26% lipid content—almost 31% more than its original strain. Importantly, it still grows just as well as the original yeast, making it a strong candidate for future use in industry.
One of the major advantages of the FlowRACS system is that it looks directly at each cell’s natural chemical makeup using light-based analysis. This means researchers can find the most promising strains without changing their genes or adding foreign materials.
To understand why this mutant yeast produces so much fat, the scientists performed what’s called a “multi-omics” analysis—looking at the full range of genetic, metabolic, and protein-level changes.
They found that MU2R48 had ramped up key energy and sugar-processing pathways that produce important building blocks like acetyl-CoA and NADPH, both essential for making fatty acids. At the same time, the yeast slowed down its fat-burning processes, helping it store more fat overall.
This discovery shows how modern tools can help scientists improve natural organisms for use in food, medicine, and industry—without relying on genetically modified organisms.
With this new yeast strain, palmitoleic acid could one day be produced more efficiently in factories instead of harvested from rare crops like sea buckthorn or macadamia nuts.
Source: KSR.
