<P><B>Abstract</B></P> <P>The aim of this work was to study the molecular breeding of oleaginous filamentous <I>Mortierella alpina</I> for high production of linoleic (LA) or oleic acid (OA). Heterologous expression of the <I>Δ12-desaturase</I> (DS) gene derived from <I>Coprinopsis cinerea</I> in the Δ6DS activity-defective mutant of <I>M. alpina</I> increased the LA production rate as to total fatty acid to 5 times that in the wild strain. By suppressing the endogenous <I>Δ6I</I> gene expression by RNAi in the Δ12DS activity-defective mutant of <I>M. alpina</I>, the OA accumulation rate as to total fatty acid reached 68.0%. The production of LA and OA in these transformants reached 1.44 and 2.76g/L, respectively, on the 5th day. The <I>Δ6I</I> transcriptional levels of the RNAi-treated strains were suppressed to 1/10th that in the parent strain. The amount of <I>Δ6II</I> RNA in the <I>Δ6I</I> RNAi-treated strain increased to 8 times that in the wild strain.</P> <P><B>Highlights</B></P> <P> <UL> <LI> LA or OA high-producing strains were obtained by molecular breeding of <I>M. alpina</I>. </LI> <LI> The production of LA and OA reached 3.32 and 3.85g/L, respectively, on the 5th day. </LI> <LI> The <I>Δ6II</I> RNA level in the transformant was 8 times as high as the wild strain. </LI> </UL> </P>