An immobilization strategy was employed to improve activity and operational stability of Yarrowia lipolytica lipase LIP2 (YlLIP2) by using macroporous resins as carrier. D152H, a cation-exchange resin, was the best support. Under the optimized conditions, the immobilization efficiency was 89.81% and the specific activity was 809,751 U/g, being 2.1-fold higher than that of the free lipase. Bioimprinting and interfacial activation were used to further boost the catalytic activity of YlLIP2, respectively enhanced 21.5-fold, 231.2% and 107.2% compared to the free, non-bioimprinted and non-interfacial-activated lipases. The immobilized lipase exhibited much better thermal and pH stability and broader substrate specificity; when used to enrich docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) from Chlorella protothecoides oil, it could increase 1.66-fold of DHA content and show good operational stability. These indicate that the immobilized YlLIP2 offers a promising approach for the enrichment of DHA. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.