Revealing the Potential of Lipid and β-Glucans Coproduction in Basidiomycetes Yeast.

Beta (beta)-glucans are polysaccharides composed of D-glucose monomers. Nowadays, beta-glucans are gaining attention due to their attractive immunomodulatory biological activities, which can be utilized in pharmaceutical or food supplementation industries. Some carotenogenicBasidiomycetesyeasts, previously explored for lipid and carotenoid coproduction, could potentially coproduce a significant amount of beta-glucans. In the present study, we screened elevenBasidiomycetesfor the coproduction of lipids and beta-glucans. We examined the effect of four different C/N ratios and eight different osmolarity conditions on the coproduction of lipids and beta-glucans. A high-throughput screening approach employing microcultivation in microtiter plates, Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and reference analysis was utilized in the study. Yeast strainsC. infirmominiatumCCY 17-18-4 andR. kratochvilovaeCCY 20-2-26 were identified as the best coproducers of lipids and beta-glucans. In addition,C. infirmominiatumCCY 17-18-4,R. kratochvilovaeCCY 20-2-26 andP. rhodozymaCCY 77-1-1 were identified as the best alternative producers of beta-glucans. Increased C/N ratio led to increased biomass, lipid and beta-glucans production for several yeast strains. Increased osmolarity had a negative effect on biomass and lipid production while the beta-glucan production was positively affected.