Increased production of ganoderic acids by overexpression of homologous farnesyl diphosphate synthase and kinetic modeling of ganoderic acid production in Ganoderma lucidum

BACKGROUND: Ganoderic acids (GAs), derived from the medicinal mushroom Ganoderma lucidum, possess anticancer and other important pharmacological activities. To improve production of GAs, a homologous farnesyl diphosphate synthase (FPS) gene was overexpressed in G. lucidum. Moreover, the influence of FPS gene overexpression on GA production was investigated by developing the corresponding mathematical models. RESULTS: The maximum levels of total GAs and individual GAs (GA-T, GA-S, and GA-Me) in the transgenic strain were 2.76 mg/100 mg dry weight (DW), 41 ± 2, 21 ± 5, and 28 ± 1 μg/100 mg DW, respectively, which were increased by 2.28-, 2.27-, 2.62-, and 2.80-folds compared with those in the control. Transcription levels of squalene synthase (SQS) and lanosterol synthase (LS) genes during GA biosynthesis were upregulated by 2.28- and 1.73-folds, respectively, in the transgenic G. lucidum. In addition, the developed unstructured models had a satisfactory fit for the process of GA production in submerged cultures of G. lucidum. Analysis of the kinetic process showed that FPS gene overexpression had a stronger positive impact on GA production compared with its influence on cell growth. Also, FPS gene overexpression led to a higher non-growth-associated-constant β (1.151) over the growth-associated-constant α (0.026) in the developed models. CONCLUSIONS: FPS gene overexpression is an effective strategy to improve the production of GAs in G. lucidum. The developed mathematical models are useful for developing a better GA production process in future large-scale bioreactors. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12934-019-1164-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.