Involvement of Acyl Coenzyme A Oxidase Isozymes in Biotransformation of Methyl Ricinoleate into γ-Decalactone by Yarrowia lipolytica

We reported previously on the function of acyl coenzyme A (acyl-CoA) oxidase isozymes in the yeast Yarrowia lipolytica by investigating strains disrupted in one or several acyl-CoA oxidase-encoding genes (POX1 through POX5) (H. Wang et al., J. Bacteriol. 181:5140–5148, 1999). Here, these mutants were studied for lactone production. Monodisrupted strains produced similar levels of lactone as the wild-type strain (50 mg/liter) except for Δpox3, which produced 220 mg of γ-decalactone per liter after 24 h. The Δpox2 Δpox3 double-disrupted strain, although slightly affected in growth, produced about 150 mg of lactone per liter, indicating that Aox2p was not essential for the biotransformation. The Δpox2 Δpox3 Δpox5 triple-disrupted strain produced and consumed lactone very slowly. On the contrary, the Δpox2 Δpox3 Δpox4 Δpox5 multidisrupted strain did not grow or biotransform methyl ricinoleate into γ-decalactone, demonstrating that Aox4p is essential for the biotransformation.