Lipid and carotenoid production by the Rhodosporidium toruloides mutant in cane molasses.

• Cane molasses was used for the lipid and carotenoids accumulation in R. toruloides. • The production of torularhodin from MT was 14.68-fold higher than those of the WT. • A high quality reference genome of R. toruloides M18 was produced. • Transcriptome revealed hub genes for lipid and carotenoids accumulation. Cane molasses is beneficial for lipid and carotenoid production in microalgae. We made a survey for the lipid and carotenoid production profile of R. toruloides M18 (MT) with various concentrations of molasses under nitrogen-deficited conditions. The production of α-linolenate and torularhodin from MT were 1.22– and 14.68-fold higher than those of the wild-type strain. We observed that molasses at concentrations of 35 g/L and 70 g/L represented a cheap and environmentally friendly strategy for producing lipids and carotenoids. Transcriptome and WGCNA analysis demonstrated that the genes relevant to the lipid and carotenoid production, including MYB , bHLH , Δ-4 desaturase, Δ-12 desaturase and FA2H , were significantly highly expressed. The results indicated that molasses could represent an inexpensive means for achieving high lipids and carotenoids production in R. toruloides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]