[2015.9.25]Aurantiochytriumsp.is a promising DHA-producing oleaginous microorganism. Its content of unsaturated fatty acids including DHA is obviously increased under low temperature, but the specific mechanism remains unclear. So, we examined the global transcriptome responses to low temperature stress of theAurantiochytriumsp. SD116 using the high throughput sequencing technology. The results have been published inScientific Reportson Sep 25, 2015.
Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA; C22:6, ω-3) is one of the most important polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) for human beings, which widely exist in human neural and retina tissues. It draws more and more attention because of its beneficial effects in infants’ intelligence development. Fish oil is the major commercial source of DHA, but its drawbacks including marine contaminants in fish, undesirable flavor and the oxidation instability make other alternative sources rising up.
Aurantiochytriumsp.is a kind of heterotrophic marine thraustochytrids that can produce large amounts of lipid, up to 60% of the dry cell weight and DHA comprises nearly 40% of the total fatty acid content. Various environmental conditions especially temperature have an effect on both biomass, lipid productivity and fatty acid composition. Low temperature could limit cell growth, but increase the proportion of unsaturated fatty acids including DHA. In this study, we examined the global transcriptome responses to cold stress of theAurantiochytriumsp. SD116 for the first time, providing new insight into the regulation of lipid metabolism inAurantiochytriumat the transcriptomic level.
The research was supervised by Prof. Qiu Cui, and was financially supported by the 863 Program from Ministry of Science and Technology of China, the National Natural Science Foundation of China and Qingdao Science and Technology Development Plan.
NCBI PubMed
Zengxin Ma, Yanzhen Tan, Guzhen Cui, Yingang Feng, Qiu Cui* & Xiaojin Song* (2015) Transcriptome and gene expression analysis of DHA producerAurantiochytriumunder low temperature conditions.Sci. Rep.5, 14446.(*Corresponding author) [Full text (Publisher website)]
