Abstract:

Oleaginous yeasts are capable of accumulating large amount of lipids and show great potential for industrial
applications, which attracted the increasing research interests. In recent years, more researches have been carried out to
investigate the relationship between citrate metabolism and lipid biosynthesis. It is now believed that that citrate participates
in the metabolic process of lipid accumulation and provides acetyl-CoA for fatty acid biosynthesis in oleaginous yeasts.
The transporting behavior of citrate from mitochondria and cytoplasm affects the lipid content in oleaginous yeasts. Citrates
in cytoplasm and mitochondrial function as modulators of several key enzymes related to the metabolic process of lipid
accumulation in oleaginous yeasts. Citrate acts as a bridge between glycolysis and lipid biosynthesis, and plays a central role in
regulating lipid accumulation in oleaginous yeasts. In summary, the central role of citrate metabolism in lipid accumulation was
reviewed, which will provide useful references for exploring the mechanism of lipid accumulation in oleaginous yeasts.

Key words: oleaginous yeast, lipid accumulation, citrate, citrate transporter