Cited by 342Algal biology and biofuel productionLipid metabolism and biosynthesisMicrobial Metabolic Engineering and Bioproduction

Lipid accumulation and biosynthesis genes response of the oleaginous Chlorella pyrenoidosaunder three nutrition stressors

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Fan, Jianhua, Cui, Yanbin, Wan, Minxi, Wang, Weiliang, Li, Yuanguang·2014·Biotechnology for Biofuels

Abstract

Background: Microalgae can accumulate considerable amounts of lipids under different nutrient-deficient conditions, making them as one of the most promising sustainable sources for biofuel production. These inducible processes provide a powerful experimental basis for fully understanding the mechanisms of physiological acclimation, lipid hyperaccumulation and gene expression in algae. In this study, three nutrient-deficiency strategies, viz nitrogen-, phosphorus- and iron-deficiency were applied to trigger the lipid hyperaccumulation in an oleaginous Chlorella pyrenoidosa. Regular patterns of growth characteristics, lipid accumulation, physiological parameters, as well as the expression patterns of lipid biosynthesis-related genes were fully analyzed and compared. Results: Our results showed that all the nutrient stress conditions could enhance the lipid content considerably compared with the control. The total lipid and neutral lipid contents exhibit the most marked increment under nitrogen deficiency, achieving 50.32% and 34.29% of dry cell weight at the end of cultivation, respectively. Both photosynthesis indicators and reactive oxygen species parameters reveal that physiological stress turned up when exposed to nutrient depletions. Time-course transcript patterns of lipid biosynthesis-related genes showed that diverse expression dynamics probably contributes to the different lipidic phenotypes under stress conditions. By analyzing the correlation between lipid content and gene expression level, we pinpoint several genes viz. rbsL, me g6562, accA, accD, dgat g2354, dgat g3280 and dgat g7063, which encode corresponding enzymes or subunits of malic enzyme, ACCase and diacylglycerol acyltransferase in the de novo TAG biosynthesis pathway, are highly related to lipid accumulation and might be exploited as target genes for genetic modification. Conclusion: This study provided us not only a comprehensive picture of adaptive mechanisms from physiological perspective, but also a number of targeted genes that can be used for a systematic metabolic engineering. Besides, our results also represented the feasibility of lipid production through trophic transition cultivation modes, throwing light on a two-stage microalgal lipid production strategy with which heterotrophy stage provides sufficient robust seed and nitrogen-starvation photoautotrophy stage enhances the overall lipid productivity.

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Authors
Fan, J., Cui, Y., Wan, M., Wang, W., & Li, Y.
Affiliations
East China University of Science and Technology (CN)
Corresponding author
  • Wang, Weiliang
  • Li, Yuanguang
Venue
Biotechnology for Biofuels
Published
2014-01-30
Volume
7
Issue
1
Pages
17-17
ISSN
1754-6834 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2103978564
Cited by
341
References
54
Citations by year
2026: 11 · 2025: 21 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 38 · 2021: 40 · 2020: 30 · 2019: 44 · 2018: 37 · 2017: 40 · 2016: 22 · 2015: 19 · 2014: 6
FWCI
9.57
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • Biotechnology for Biofuels (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • National Natural Science Foundation of China (31300295, 2060204)
  • China Postdoctoral Science Foundation
  • State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering (2060204)
  • National Key Research and Development Program of China (2060204, 2011CB200904)
  • Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2060204)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Energy › Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment › Algal biology and biofuel production
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Biochemistry › Lipid metabolism and biosynthesis
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Microbial Metabolic Engineering and Bioproduction
Keywords
Chlorella pyrenoidosa, lipid accumulation, lipid biosynthesis genes, nitrogen deficiency, phosphorus deficiency, iron deficiency, nutritional stress, transcriptome, triglyceride synthesis, malic enzyme, acetyl-CoA carboxylase, diacylglycerol acyltransferase, reactive oxygen species, microalgal biofuels, metabolic engineering, heterotrophic cultivation, two-stage cultivation

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