Oral administration of whole dihomo-γ-linolenic acid-producing yeast suppresses allergic contact dermatitis in mice.

Dihomo-γ-linolenic acid (DGLA, C20: 3n-6) is known to have an anti-inflammatory activity, but its range of effects was not well studied because of its limited natural sources. We addressed these issues by constructing an yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain having a complete metabolic pathway for DGLA synthesis by introducing two desaturase and one elongase genes to convert endogenous oleic acid to DGLA. Taking advantage of well-known safety of S. cerevisiae, we previously investigated the efficacy of heat-killed whole DGLA-producing yeast cells on irritant contact dermatitis, and showed that oral intake of this yeast significantly suppressed inflammatory reactions, whereas no such suppression was observed by the intake of 25 times the amount of purified DGLA. Since this method is considered to be a simple and efficient way to suppress inflammation, we examined its effectiveness against allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) in this study and showed that this method was also effective against ACD.

Modulation of gluconeogenesis and lipid production in an engineered oleaginous Saccharomyces cerevisiae transformant.

We previously created an oleaginous Saccharomyces cerevisiae transformant as a dga1 mutant overexpressing Dga1p lacking 29 amino acids at the N-terminal (Dga1∆Np). Because we have already shown that dga1 disruption decreases the expression of ESA1, which encodes histone acetyltransferase, the present study was aimed at exploring how Esa1p was involved in lipid accumulation. We based our work on the previous observation that Esa1p acetylates and activates phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) encoded by PCK1, a rate-limiting enzyme in gluconeogenesis, and subsequently evaluated the activation of Pck1p by yeast growth with non-fermentable carbon sources, thus dependent on gluconeogenesis. This assay revealed that the ∆dga1 mutant overexpressing Dga1∆Np had much lower growth in a glycerol-lactate (GL) medium than the wild-type strain overexpressing Dga1∆Np. Moreover, overexpression of Esa1p or Pck1p in mutants improved the growth, indicating that the ∆dga1 mutant overexpressing Dga1∆Np had lower activities of Pck1p and gluconeogenesis due to lower expression of ESA1. In vitro PEPCK assay showed the same trend in the culture of the ∆dga1 mutant overexpressing Dga1∆Np with 10 % glucose medium, indicating that Pck1p-mediated gluconeogenesis decreased in this oleaginous transformant under the lipid-accumulating conditions introduced by the glucose medium. The growth of the ∆dga1 mutant overexpressing Dga1∆Np in the GL medium was also improved by overexpression of acetyl-CoA synthetase, Acs1p or Acs2p, indicating that supply of acetyl-CoA was crucial for Pck1p acetylation by Esa1p. In addition, the ∆dga1 mutant without Dga1∆Np also showed better growth in the GL medium, indicating that decreased lipid accumulation was enhancing Pck1p-mediated gluconeogenesis. Finally, we found that overexpression of Ole1p, a fatty acid ∆9-desaturase, in the ∆dga1 mutant overexpressing Dga1∆Np improved its growth in the GL medium. Although the exact mechanisms leading to the effects of Ole1p were not clearly defined, changes of palmitoleic and oleic acid contents appeared to be critical. This observation was supported by experiments using exogenous palmitoleic and oleic acids or overexpression of elongases. Our findings provide new insights on lipid accumulation mechanisms and metabolic engineering approaches for lipid production.

Addition of methionine and low cultivation temperatures increase palmitoleic acid production by engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Palmitoleic acid (POA) has recently gained attention for its health benefits and as a potential resource for industrial feedstock. This study focused on the use of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which has a high POA content but low lipid content, for POA production. We created an oleaginous S. cerevisiae as a dga1 mutant overexpressing Dga1p lacking the N-terminal 29 amino acids (Dga1∆Np). This was performed to further increase POA content in the oleaginous S. cerevisiae through optimization of culture conditions and genetic modifications. We found that high concentrations of methionine (2.0 g/l) increased POA production in a concentration-dependent way, while other amino acids such as cysteine, glycine, and glutamine showed no effect. It was not clear if the effect of methionine was mediated through S-adenosylmethionine, mainly because its addition did not increase POA content as did the addition of methionine. We increased POA content up to 55% by incubation of the dga1 transformant in a medium containing 2 g/l methionine at lower than normal temperatures ranging from 20 to 25 °C. Cultivation at such temperatures increased dry cell weight, but did not affect the lipid content, thereby increasing total POA production. The effects of methionine and low temperatures (20-25 °C) on POA content were more apparent in the strains overexpressing Dga1∆Np than those harboring empty vectors, which was consistent with the observation that POA was enriched in triacylglycerol. Overexpression of Ole1p, the enzyme responsible for POA production, did not increase POA content of the dga1 mutant overexpressing Dga1∆Np, but increased that of the wild-type strain overexpressing Dga1∆Np. The results suggested that genomic Ole1p in the dga1 mutant was active enough to achieve the optimal POA production under these conditions. Finally, the POA production by the S. cerevisiae transformant was increased 2.5-fold, which demonstrates that oleaginous S. cerevisiae is a potential source of POA.

Suppression of ricinoleic acid toxicity by ptl2 overexpression in fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe.

We previously succeeded to obtain a high content of ricinoleic acid (RA), a hydroxylated fatty acid with great values as a petrochemical replacement, in fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe by introducing Claviceps purpurea oleate Δ12-hydroxylase gene (CpFAH12). Although the production was toxic to S. pombe cells, we identified plg7, encoding phospholipase A2, as a multicopy suppressor that restored the growth defect by removing RA from phospholipids and induced secretion of a part of the released free RA into culture media. In this study, we extended our analysis and examined the effect of triglyceride (TG) lipase overexpression on the tolerance to RA toxicity and RA productivity. S. pombe has three TG lipase genes, ptl1, ptl2, and ptl3, which have high protein sequence similarities to each other and to Saccharomyces cerevisiae counterparts TGL3, TGL4, and TGL5, but only ptl2 overexpression suppressed the growth defect induced by RA production, and the culture grown at 20 °C secreted free RA into media like plg7 overexpression. Suppression by ptl2 was independent of plg7, and a large amount of free RA was accumulated in the cells concomitant with the decrease in RA moieties in phospholipids. Furthermore, the suppression by ptl2 was attenuated by bromoenol lactone (BEL), a phospholipase A2 specific inhibitor, suggesting that Ptl2p may have phospholipase activity. Simultaneous overexpression of ptl2 and plg7 in the FAH12 integrant increased secretion and intracellular accumulation of RA 1.2- and 1.3-fold, respectively, compared to those with single overexpression of plg7 on day 10 at 20 °C.

Oral administration of whole dihomo-γ-linolenic acid-producing Saccharomyces cerevisiae suppresses cutaneous inflammatory responses induced by croton oil application in mice.

Polyunsaturated fatty acids have been attracting considerable interest because of their many biological activities and important roles in human health and nutrition. Dihomo-γ-linolenic acid (DGLA; C20: 3n-6) is known to have an anti-inflammatory activity, but its range of effects was not well studied because of its limited natural sources. Taking advantage of genetic tractability and increasing wealth of accessible data of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, we have previously constructed a DGLA-producing yeast strain by introducing two types of desaturase and one elongase genes to convert endogenous oleic acid (C18:1n-9) to DGLA. In this study, we investigated the efficacy of oral intake of heat-killed whole DGLA-producing yeast cells in the absence of lipid purification on cutaneous inflammation. Topical application of croton oil to mouse ears induces ear swelling in parallel with the increased production of chemokines and accumulation of infiltrating cells into the skin sites. These inflammatory reactions were significantly suppressed in a dose-dependent manner by oral intake of the DGLA-producing yeast cells for only 7 days. This suppression was not observed by the intake of the γ-linolenic acid-producing (C18:3n-6, an immediate precursor of DGLA) yeast, indicating DGLA itself suppressed the inflammation. Further analysis demonstrated that DGLA exerted an anti-inflammatory effect via prostaglandin E1 formation because naproxen, a cyclooxygenase inhibitor, attenuated the suppression. Since 25-fold of purified DGLA compared with that provided as a form of yeast was not effective, oral administration of the whole DGLA-producing yeast is considered to be a simple but efficient method to suppress inflammatory responses.

Secretory production of ricinoleic acid in fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe.

We have succeeded to produce a high content of ricinoleic acid (RA), a hydroxylated fatty acid with great values as a petrochemical replacement, in fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe by introducing Claviceps purpurea oleate Δ12-hydroxylase gene (CpFAH12). Although the production was toxic to S. pombe cells, we solved the problem by identifying plg7, encoding phospholipase A2, as a multicopy suppressor. Characterization of the RA-tolerant strains suggested that the removal of RA moieties from phospholipids would be the suppression mechanism by plg7. In this study, we extended our analysis and report our new discovery that the overexpression of plg7 enabled cells to secrete free RA into culture media. When the FAH12 integrant in the absence of the overexpressed plg7 was grown at 20 °C for 11 days, the amount of intracellular RA reached 200.1 µg/ml of culture and only 69.3 µg/ml of RA was detected in culture media. On the other hand, the FAH12 integrant harboring the plg7 multicopy plasmid secreted RA in the media (184.5 µg/ml) without decreasing the amount in the cells, i.e., a significantly higher total secretion and a lead to making RA by its secretory production in S. pombe.

Overexpression of the active diacylglycerol acyltransferase variant transforms Saccharomyces cerevisiae into an oleaginous yeast.

Lipid production by Saccharomyces cerevisiae was improved by overexpression of the yeast diacylglycerol acyltransferase Dga1p lacking the N-terminal 29 amino acids (Dga1∆Np), which was previously found to be an active form in the ∆snf2 mutant. Overexpression of Dga1∆Np in the ∆snf2 mutant, however, did not increase lipid content as expected, which prompted us to search for a more suitable strain in which to study the role of Dga1∆Np in lipid accumulation. We found that the overexpression of Dga1∆Np in the ∆dga1 mutant effectively increased the lipid content up to about 45 % in the medium containing 10 % glucose. The high lipid content of the transformant was dependent on glucose concentration, nitrogen limitation, and active leucine biosynthesis. To better understand the effect of dga1 disruption on the ability of Dga1∆Np to stimulate lipid accumulation, the ∆dga1-1 mutant, in which the 3'-terminal 36 bp of the dga1 open reading frame (ORF) remained, and the ∆dga1-2 mutant, in which the 3'-terminal 36 bp were also deleted, were prepared with URA3 disruption cassettes. Surprisingly, the overexpression of Dga1∆Np in the ∆dga1-1 mutant had a lower lipid content than the original ∆dga1 mutant, whereas overexpression in the ∆dga1-2 mutant led to a high lipid content of about 45 %. These results indicated that deletion of the 3' terminal region of the dga1 ORF, rather than abrogation of genomic Dga1p expression, was crucial for the effect of Dga1∆Np on lipid accumulation. To investigate whether dga1 disruption affected gene expression adjacent to DGA1, we found that the overexpression of Esa1p together with Dga1∆Np in the ∆dga1 mutant reverted the lipid content to the level of the wild-type strain overexpressing Dga1∆Np. In addition, RT-qPCR analysis revealed that ESA1 mRNA expression in the ∆dga1 mutant was decreased compared to the wild-type strain at the early stages of culture, suggesting that lowered Esa1p expression is involved in the effect of dga1 disruption on Dga1∆Np-dependent lipid accumulation. These results provide a new strategy to engineer S. cerevisiae for optimal lipid production.

Toxicity of ricinoleic acid production in fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe is suppressed by the overexpression of plg7, a phospholipase A2 of a platelet-activating factor (PAF) family homolog.

In an effort to produce ricinoleic acid (RA), an important natural raw material with great values as a petrochemical replacement, in Schizosaccharomyces pombe, we introduced Claviceps purpurea oleate Δ12-hydroxylase gene (CpFAH12) to S. pombe, putting it under the control of an inducible nmt1 promoter. However, RA was toxic to S. pombe and the cells expressing CpFAH12 grew poorly at the normal growth temperature 30 °C. To address its toxic mechanism in S. pombe, we screened for a S. pombe cDNA library and identified plg7, which encodes a phospholipase A2, as a suppressor that restored the growth defect without affecting the RA production. A lacZ fusion experiment showed that the expression of plg7 was inducible by RA. Thin layer chromatographic analysis confirmed a reduction in RA moiety in phospholipids and a concomitant increase in free RA in the plg7 overexpressed strain. Since RA is synthesized at the sn-2 position of phosphatidylcholine by Fah12p, and phospholipase A2 hydrolyzes the sn-2 acyl bond of phospholipids, we speculate that plg7 is a stress-responsive gene, and removal of RA moieties from phospholipids, major components of lipid bilayer membrane, by Plg7p would be its suppression mechanism.

Synthesis and production of unsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids in yeast: current state and perspectives.

Recently, many genes involved in the formation of unsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) were isolated. In most cases, their activities were confirmed by expressing them in the well-studied model organism Saccharomyces cerevisiae because its fatty acid compositions are very simple and it does not contain PUFAs. Taking advantage of its genetic tractability and increasing wealth of accessible data, many groups are attempting to produce various useful fatty acids in the model yeasts, mainly in S. cerevisiae. This review describes typical such examples including a very recent study on the expression of a fatty acid hydroxylase gene in fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Furthermore, the impact of the genetically engineered alteration of fatty acid composition on the stress tolerance is presented because unsaturated fatty acids have crucial roles in membrane fluidity and signaling processes. Lastly, recent attempts at increasing lipid content in S. cerevisiae are discussed.

Characterization of triglyceride lipase genes of fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe.

Triglycerides (TG) are major storage lipids for eukaryotic cells. In this study, we characterized three genes of fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, SPCC1450.16c, SPAC1786.01c, and SPAC1A6.05c, that show high homology to Saccharomyces cerevisiae TG lipase genes, TGL3, TGL4, and TGL5. Deletion of each gene increased TG content by approximately 1.7-fold compared to the parental wild-type strain, and their triple deletion mutant further increased TG content to 2.7-fold of the wild-type strain, suggesting that all three genes encode TG lipase and are functioning in S. pombe. The triple deletion mutant showed no growth defect in rich and synthetic medium, but its growth was sensitive to cerulenin, an inhibitor of fatty acid synthesis. This growth defect by cerulenin was restored by adding oleic acid in media, suggesting that these genes were involved in the mobilization of TG in S. pombe. When ricinoleic acid was produced in the triple mutant by introducing CpFAH12 fatty acid hydroxylase gene from Claviceps purpurea, percent composition of ricinoleic acid increased by 1.1-fold compared to the wild-type strain, in addition to a 1.6-fold increase in total fatty acid content per dry cell weight (DCW). In total, the ricinoleic acid production per DCW increased by 1.8-fold in the triple deletion mutant.

Engineered high content of ricinoleic acid in fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe.

In an effort to produce ricinoleic acid (12-hydroxy-octadeca-cis-9-enoic acid: C18:1-OH) as a petrochemical replacement in a variety of industrial processes, we introduced Claviceps purpurea oleate ∆12-hydroxylase gene (CpFAH12) to Schizosaccharomyces pombe, putting it under the control of inducible nmt1 promoter. Since Fah12p is able to convert oleic acid to ricinoleic acid, we thought that S. pombe, in which around 75% of total fatty acid (FA) is oleic acid, would accordingly be an ideal microorganism for high production of ricinoleic acid. Unfortunately, at the normal growth temperature of 30 °C, S. pombe cells harboring CpFAH12 grew poorly when the CpFAH12 gene expression was induced, perhaps implicating ricinoleic acid as toxic in S. pombe. However, in line with a likely thermoinstability of Fah12p, there was almost no growth inhibition at 37 °C or, by contrast with 30 °C and lower temperatures, ricinoleic acid accumulation. Accordingly, various optimization steps led to a regime with preliminary growth at 37 °C followed by a 5-day incubation at 20 °C, and the level of ricinoleic acid reached 137.4 µg/ml of culture that corresponded to 52.6% of total FA.

Promotion of glycerol utilization using ethanol and 1-propanol in Schizosaccharomyces pombe.

The fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe does not grow in media containing glycerol as a sole carbon source but uses glycerol in the presence of ethanol. Ethanol, but not glycerol, triggered upregulation of gld1+ and fbp1+ during glucose starvation even though gld1+ and fbp1+ are essential for growth on glycerol. This upregulation occurred at a very low concentration of ethanol. The transcriptional regulation of gld1+ was tested in the presence of various alcohols, and both ethanol and 1-propanol were found to induce gld1+ and to support growth in glycerol-containing media. We suggest that S. pombe has a novel ethanol and/or 1-propanol recognition mechanism that upregulates glycerol utilization during glucose starvation.

Efficient accumulation of oleic acid in Saccharomyces cerevisiae caused by expression of rat elongase 2 gene (rELO2) and its contribution to tolerance to alcohols.

When the cells of Saccharomyces cerevisiae are exposed to high concentration of ethanol, the content of oleic acid (C18:1n-9) increased as the initial concentration of ethanol increased. Based on this observation, we attempted to confer ethanol tolerance to S. cerevisiae by manipulating fatty acid composition of the cells. Rather than altering OLE1 expression [the desaturase making both C16:1n-7 (palmitoleic acid) and C18:1n-9], we introduced elongase genes. Introduction of rat elongase 1 gene (rELO1) into S. cerevisiae gave cis-vaccenic acid (cis-C18:1n-7) by conversion from C16:1n-7, and the increase in this C18:1 fatty acid did not confer ethanol tolerance to the cells. On the other hand, the introduction of rat elongase 2 gene (rELO2), which elongates C16:0 to C18:0, drastically increased C18:1n-9 content, and the cells acquired ethanol tolerance, emphasizing the specific role of C18:1n-9. Furthermore, the transformant of rELO2 also conferred tolerance to n-butanol, n-propanol, and 2-propanol.

On-chip optical interconnection by using integrated III-V laser diode and photodetector with silicon waveguide.

On-chip integration of III-V laser diodes and photodetectors with silicon nanowire waveguides is demonstrated. Through flip-chip bonding of GaInNAs/GaAs laser diodes directly onto the silicon substrate, efficient heat dissipation was realized and characteristic temperatures as high as 132K were achieved. Spot-size converters for the laser-to-waveguide coupling were used, with efficiencies greater than 60%. The photodetectors were fabricated by bonding of InGaAs/InP wafers directly to silicon waveguides and formation of metal-semiconductor-metal structures, giving responsivities as high as 0.74 A/W. Both laser diode and the photodetector were integrated with a single silicon waveguide to demonstrate a complete on-chip optical transmission link.

Activation of diacylglycerol acyltransferase expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae: overexpression of Dga1p lacking the N-terminal region in the Deltasnf2 disruptant produces a significant increase in its enzyme activity.

We previously found that overexpression of DGA1 encoding diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT) in the Deltasnf2 disruptant of Saccharomyces cerevisiae caused a significant increase in lipid accumulation and DGAT activity. The present study was conducted to investigate how Dga1p is activated in the Deltasnf2 disruptant. To analyze the expression of Dga1p in wild type and the Deltasnf2 disruptant, we overexpressed Dga1p with a 6x His tag at the N-terminus and a FLAG tag at the C-terminus. Immunoblotting using anti-6x His and anti-FLAG antibodies revealed that, in addition to full-length protein, Dga1p lacking the N-terminus was produced only in the Deltasnf2 disruptant. Full-length Dga1p and N-terminally truncated Dga1p were separated and purified from the lipid body fraction by using anti-FLAG M2 agarose and TALON metal affinity resin. Major DGAT activity was recovered in the purified fraction of N-terminally truncated Dga1p, indicating that proteolytic cleavage at the N-terminal region is involved in DGAT activation in the Deltasnf2 disruptant. Analysis of the cleavage site of N-terminally truncated Dga1p revealed a major site between Lys-29 and Ser-30. We then overexpressed truncated Dga1p variants that lacked different N-terminal amino acids and had a FLAG tag at the C-terminus. The homogenate and lipid body fraction of the Deltasnf2 disruptant overexpressing Dga1p lacking the N-terminal 29 amino acids (Dga1DeltaN2p) had higher DGAT activity than that overexpressing Dga1p, indicating that Dga1DeltaN2p is activated Dga1p. Dga1DeltaN2p-FLAG(C-terminus) was purified to near homogeneity by anti-FLAG M2 agarose chromatography and maintained significant DGAT activity. These results provide a new strategy to engineer expression of DGAT.

Improvement of polyunsaturated fatty acids synthesis by the coexpression of CYB5 with desaturase genes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Since Saccharomyces cerevisiae contains Delta9 fatty acid desaturase (OLE1) as a sole fatty acid desaturase, it produces saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids of 16- and 18-carbon compounds. We showed earlier that Kluyveromyces lactis Delta12 (KlFAD2) and omega3 (KlFAD3) fatty acid desaturase genes enabled S. cerevisiae to make also polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), linoleic (18:2n-6), and alpha-linolenic (18:3n-3) acids. Unlike Delta9 fatty acid desaturase Ole1p, the two added fatty acid desaturases (KlFAD2and KlFAD3) do not contain a cytochrome b5 domain, and we now report on effects of the overexpression of K. lactis and S. cerevisiae cytochrome b5 (CYB5) genes as well as temperature effects on PUFA synthesis. Without extra cytochrome b5, while PUFA synthesis is significant at low temperature (20 degrees C), it was marginal at 30 degrees C. Overexpression of cytochrome b5 at 20 degrees C did not affect the fatty acid synthesis so much, but it significantly enhanced the synthesis of PUFA at 30 degrees C.

Production of polyunsaturated fatty acids in yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and its relation to alkaline pH tolerance.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae produces saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids of 16- and 18-carbon atoms and no polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) with more than two double bonds. To study the biological significance of PUFAs in yeast, we introduced Kluyveromyces lactis Delta12 fatty acid desaturase (KlFAD2) and omega3 fatty acid desaturase (KlFAD3) genes into S. cerevisiae to produce linoleic and alpha-linolenic acids in S. cerevisiae. The strain producing linoleic and alpha-linolenic acids showed an alkaline pH-tolerant phenotype. DNA microarray analyses showed that the transcription of a set of genes whose expressions are under the repression of Rim101p were downregulated in this strain, suggesting that Rim101p, a transcriptional repressor which governs the ion tolerance, was activated. In line with this activation, the strain also showed elevated resistance to Li(+) and Na(+) ions and to zymolyase, a yeast lytic enzyme preparation containing mainly beta-1,3-glucanase, indicating that the cell wall integrity was also strengthened in this strain. Our findings demonstrate a novel influence of PUFA production on transcriptional control that is likely to play an important role in the early stage of alkaline stress response. The Accession No. for microarray data in the Center for Information Biology Gene Expression database is CBX68.

Improvement of Stearidonic acid production in Oleaginous Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Rat Delta6 desaturase was introduced in "oleaginous" Saccharomyces cerevisiae genetically modified by the snf2 disruption, DGA1 overexpression, and LEU2 expression to improve stearidonic acid (18:4n-3 (Delta6, 9, 12, 15)) production. When this transformed yeast was cultured in the presence of 0.7 g/l alpha-linolenic acid for 7 d, 0.4 g of alpha-linolenic acid was accumulated and 44 mg of stearidonic acid was produced, mainly as a triacylglycerol in the 1 liter broth.

Isolation and characterization of a Delta5-desaturase from Oblongichytrium sp.

We isolated a cDNA clone with homology to known desaturase genes from Oblongichytrium sp., recently classified as a new genus of thraustochytrids (Labyrinthulomycetes), and found that it encoded Delta5-desaturase by its heterologous expression in yeast. The enzyme had higher activity toward 20:4n-3 than 20:3n-6, indicating that this Delta5-desaturase can be used in the production of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in transgenic organisms.

DGA1 (diacylglycerol acyltransferase gene) overexpression and leucine biosynthesis significantly increase lipid accumulation in the Deltasnf2 disruptant of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

We previously found that SNF2, a gene encoding a transcription factor forming part of the SWI/SNF (switching/sucrose non-fermenting) chromatin-remodelling complex, is involved in lipid accumulation, because the Deltasnf2 disruptant of Saccharomyces cerevisiae has a higher lipid content. The present study was conducted to identify other factors that might further increase lipid accumulation in the Deltasnf2 disruptant. First, expression of LEU2 (a gene encoding beta-isopropylmalate dehydrogenase), which was used to select transformed strains by complementation of the leucine axotroph, unexpectedly increased both growth and lipid accumulation, especially in the Deltasnf2 disruptant. The effect of LEU2 expression on growth and lipid accumulation could be reproduced by adding large amounts of leucine to the culture medium, indicating that the effect was not due to Leu2p (beta-isopropylmalate dehydrogenase) itself, but rather to leucine biosynthesis. To increase lipid accumulation further, genes encoding the triacylglycerol biosynthetic enzymes diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGA1) and phospholipid:diacylglycerol acyltransferase (LRO1) were overexpressed in the Deltasnf2 disruptant. Overexpression of DGA1 significantly increased lipid accumulation, especially in the Deltasnf2 disruptant, whereas LRO1 overexpression decreased lipid accumulation in the Deltasnf2 disruptant. Furthermore, the effect of overexpression of acyl-CoA synthase genes (FAA1, FAA2, FAA3 and FAA4), which each supply a substrate for Dga1p (diacylglycerol acyltransferase), was investigated. Overexpression of FAA3, together with that of DGA1, did not further increase lipid accumulation in the Deltasnf2 disruptant, but did enhance lipid accumulation in the presence of exogenous fatty acids. Lastly, the total lipid content in the Deltasnf2 disruptant transformed with DGA1 and FAA3 overexpression vectors reached approx. 30%, of which triacylglycerol was the most abundant lipid. Diacylglycerol acyltransferase activity was significantly increased in the Deltasnf2 disruptant strain overexpressing DGA1 as compared with the wild-type strain overexpressing DGA1; this higher activity may account for the prominent increase in lipid accumulation in the Deltasnf2 disruptant with DGA1 overexpression. The strains obtained have a lipid content that is high enough to act as a model of oleaginous yeast and they may be useful for the metabolic engineering of lipid production in yeast.