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For a study on the production of γ-linolenic acid(GLA) by microorganisms, fifteen strains of Mucorales obtained from culture stocks and ten isolate strains were compared in their cell growth, lipid content, fatty acid composition and pellet size formed in shake flask culture. Among the fungi examined, the isolated fungus, designated as FB-354, was found to be the most suitable one for the production of GLA mainly due to its high contents of lipid, 29.9% of dry cell weight and GLA, 16.8% of the total fatty acids. The strain FB-354 was tentatively identified as Mucor sp. on the basis of morphological characteristics. Fungal oil produced by Mucor sp. FB-354 was fractionated into 81.1% of neutral lipid, 7.2% of glycolipid, and 11.8% of phospholipid. Although the GLA content in the phospholipid fraction was as high as 21.4%, most of the GLA was found in the neutral lipid fraction.
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