High-throughput metabolic screening of microalgae genetic variation in response to nutrient limitation
Open accessAbstract
Microalgae produce metabolites that could be useful for applications in food, biofuel or fine chemical production. The identification and development of suitable strains require analytical methods that are accurate and allow rapid screening of strains or cultivation conditions. We demonstrate the use of Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy to screen mutant strains of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii . These mutants have knockdowns for one or more nutrient starvation response genes, namely PSR1 , SNRK2.1 and SNRK2.2 . Limitation of nutrients including nitrogen and phosphorus can induce metabolic changes in microalgae, including the accumulation of glycerolipids and starch. By performing multivariate statistical analysis of FT-IR spectra, metabolic variation between different nutrient limitation and non-stressed conditions could be differentiated. A number of mutant strains with similar genetic backgrounds could be distinguished from wild type when grown under specific nutrient limited and replete conditions, demonstrating the sensitivity of FT-IR spectroscopy to detect specific genetic traits. Changes in lipid and carbohydrate between strains and specific nutrient stress treatments were validated by other analytical methods, including liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry for lipidomics. These results demonstrate that the PSR1 gene is an important determinant of lipid and starch accumulation in response to phosphorus starvation but not nitrogen starvation. However, the SNRK2.1 and SNRK2.2 genes are not as important for determining the metabolic response to either nutrient stress. We conclude that FT-IR spectroscopy and chemometric approaches provide a robust method for microalgae screening.
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Not all microalgae species respond to nutrient scarcity by accumulating carbohydrates or lipids.
“Although nutritional scarcity has caused metabolic changes in microalgae, such as the accumulation of carbohydrates and lipids, not all species have responded to nutrient scarcity by accumulating carbohydrates or lipids [6,13,14].”
From Response to nutrient variation on lipid productivity in green microalgae captured using second derivative FTIR and Raman spectroscopy (2022) · cites this paper as [13]
Chlamydomonas sp. exhibited an increase in CH intensities (3000-2800 cm-1) with nutrient depletion (NP1) on the 10th and 20th days of growth.
“Chlamydomonas sp. also exhibited an increase in CH intensities (3000-2800 cm -1 ) with nutrient depletion (NP1) on the 10 th (Fig.3) and 20 th (Fig.4) days of growth, in accordance with previous studies [9,13,58].”
From Response to nutrient variation on lipid productivity in green microalgae captured using second derivative FTIR and Raman spectroscopy (2022) · cites this paper as [13]
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- Authors
- Bajhaiya, A. K., Dean, A. P., Driver, T., Trivedi, D. K., Rattray, N. J. W., Allwood, J. W., Goodacre, R., & Pittman, J. K.
- Affiliations
- University of Manchester (GB)
- James Hutton Institute (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Pittman, Jon K.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Metabolomics
- Published
- 2015-11-13
- Volume
- 12
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 9-9
- ISSN
- 1573-3882 (ISSN-L)
- 1573-3890
- PMC
- PMC4644200
- OpenAlex
- W2178925691
- Cited by
- 49
- References
- 47
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 1
- FWCI
- 3.89
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Locations
- Metabolomics (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Research Explorer (The University of Manchester) (publishedVersion)
- Strathprints: The University of Strathclyde institutional repository (University of Strathclyde) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- The Carbon Trust (082)
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/J014478/1)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Chemistry › Analytical Chemistry › Spectroscopy and Chemometric Analyses
- Physical Sciences › Energy › Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment › Algal biology and biofuel production
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Biophysics › Spectroscopy Techniques in Biomedical and Chemical Research
- Keywords
- Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, nutrient limitation, phosphorus deficiency, nitrogen starvation, mutant screening, starch accumulation, lipid accumulation, FTIR spectroscopy, chemometrics
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