Acetic acid at 5-8 mM increased ganoderic acid (GA) accumulation in Ganoderma lucidum. After optimization by the response surface methodology, the GA content reached 5.5/100 mg dry weight, an increase of 105 % compared with the control. The intermediate metabolites of GA biosynthesis, lanosterol and squalene also increased to 47 and 15.8 mu g/g dry weight, respectively, in response to acetic acid. Acetic acid significantly induced transcription levels of sqs, lano, hmgs and cyp51 in the GA biosynthesis pathway. An acetic acid-unregulated acetyl coenzyme A synthase (acs) gene was selected from ten candidate homologous acs genes. The results indicate that acetic acid alters the expression of genes related to acetic acid assimilation and increases GA biosynthesis and the metabolic levels of lanosterol, squalene and GA-a, thereby resulting in GA accumulation.