Prof. Deokkun Oh’s research team (Department of Integrative Bioscience and Biotechnology) from Konkuk Institute of Science and Technology (KIT) announced on the 21^st that they have developed a biosynthesis process of oxylipin, which is used as an efficient and eco-friendly antifungal agent, by using safflower oil.

The research team succeeded in producing concentrated and eco-friendly trihydroxy fatty acids, which are used for antifungal agents as well as vaccine aids among oxylipins, and the result was published in ‘Green Chemistry’ (IF=10.182), a renowned green chemistry journal by the Royal Society of Chemistry. (Image 1) (Thesis title: Highly efficient oxidation of plant oils to C18 trihydroxy fatty acids by Escherichia coli co-expressing lipoxygenase and epoxide hydrolase)


The research was conducted with the support of Basic Research Projects in the field of science by the Ministry of Science and ICT (Project name: Microbial engineering biosynthesis and inflammation/obesity control mechanisms of metabolome profiling-based human oxylipins. A Ph.D. student Jin Lee (left) participated in the research as the lead author while Prof. Oh (right) took part in as a corresponding author.

Trihydroxy fatty acid, a type of plant-derived oxylipins, is used as an antifungal agent to respond to fungal infections of plants. As trihydroxy fatty acids are only produced in an extremely small amount in infected plants, they are produced in a chemical synthesis method rather than a biological method for industrial purposes. However, the chemical synthesis method is causing environmental issues as it provokes pollution with toxic substances such as strong acid, strong alkali, organic solvent and heavy metal catalyst. There has been a development of biotechnology production technology using microorganisms that produce trihydroxy fatty acids in eco-friendly and economical way, yet, it is still challenging in that the density of trihydroxy fatty acid produced by a biological method is below 1g/L, which is impossible to use for industrial purposes.

Prof. Oh succeeded in the development of the biosynthesis process of trihydroxy fatty acids through high-activity enzyme and renewable safflower oil as well as the optimization process in bioreactors.

Through eco-friendly methods, the team has also developed colon bacillus biocatalyst with lipoxygenase and epoxy hydrolase for industrial purposes of trihydroxy fatty acid. Moreover, they have accomplished bioconversion by optimizing reaction conditions. By optimizing resin treatment conditions, linoleic acid, which is a substrate, was obtained from 93g/L safflower oil with high purity, and the biocatalyst was reacted with linoleic acid in a bioreactor with a smooth oxygen supply, thereby successfully synthesizing 76 g/L trihydroxy fatty acid with a conversion yield (Image 2). It was the very first attempt for the biosynthesis of trihydroxy fatty acids by using vegetable oil and bioreactors.


Prof. Oh said, “By enabling eco-friendly industrial production that had previously been difficult to produce through a biosynthesis process, it will be possible to produce eco-friendly oxylipins in various future industries.”