Oleaginous fungus Mortierella isabellina showed excellent lipid conversion on non-detoxified lignocellulosic hydrolysate. This study investigated the effects of inhibitory compounds (furfural, hydroxymethylfurfural, and ferulic and coumaric acids) in lignocellulosic hydrolysate on M. isabellina growth and lipid production. M. isabellina can tolerate furfural (similar to 1 g/L), hydroxymethylfurfural (similar to 2.5 g/L), ferulic (similar to 0.5 g/L) and coumaric acid (similar to 0.5 g/L) with normal growth rates. Synergistic effect of these inhibitors (2 g/L furfural, 0.4 g/L hydroxymethylfurfural, 0.02 g/L ferulic acid and 0.02 g/L coumaric acid) moderately reduces total fungal growth (by 28%), while the presence of these inhibitors has minor impact on cell lipid contents and lipid profiles. In the presence of inhibitory compounds, C-13-tracing has revealed that M. isabellina can simultaneously utilize glucose and acetate, and acetate is mainly assimilated for synthesis of lipid and TCA cycle amino acids. The results also demonstrate that glucose has strong catabolite repression for xylose utilization for biomass and lipid production in the presence of inhibitors. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.