Microbial lipids produced by oleaginous microorganisms, also called microbial oils and single cell oils (SCOs), are very promising sources for several oil industries. The exploration of efficient oleaginous yeast strains, meant to produce both high-quantity and high-quality lipids for the production of biodiesel, oleochemicals, and the other high value lipid products, have gained much attention. At present, the number of oleaginous yeast species that have been discovered is 8.2% of the total number of known yeast species, most of which have been isolated from their natural habitats. To explore high lipid producing yeasts, different methods, including high-throughput screening methods using colorimetric or fluorometric measures, have been developed. Understanding of the fatty acid composition profiles of lipids produced by oleaginous yeasts would help to define target lipid-related products. For lipid production, the employment of low-cost substrates suitable for yeast growth and lipid accumulation, and efficient cultivation processes are key factors for successfully increasing the amount of the accumulated lipid yield while decreasing the cost of production.

由产油微生物产生的微生物脂质，也称为微生物油和单细胞油 (SCO)，是一些石油工业非常有前途的来源。高效产油酵母菌株的探索，旨在生产用于生产生物柴油、油脂化学品和其他高价值脂质产品的大量和高质量脂质，已引起广泛关注。目前，已发现的产油酵母种数占已知酵母种总数的8.2%，其中大部分是从自然栖息地分离出来的。为了探索高脂肪生产酵母，已经开发了不同的方法，包括使用比色法或荧光法测量的高通量筛选方法。了解产油酵母产生的脂质的脂肪酸组成概况将有助于定义目标脂质相关产品。对于脂质生产，使用适合酵母生长和脂质积累的低成本底物，以及高效的培养过程是成功增加累积脂质产量同时降低生产成本的关键因素。