[2017.5.23]Aurantiochytriumis a commercial docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) producer, and its DHA content can be significantly increased under cold stress. Given this response to low temperature, we examined proteomics changes inAurantiochytriumunder cold stress. We detected approximately 700 protein spots using two-dimensional gels, whereas using iTRAQ technology, we detected 4,650 types of proteins and successfully identified more than 53%. The results indicated that cold stress inhibits the cellular energy supply from glycolysis and the TCA cycle, to ensure a sufficient supply of NADPH and ribose for anabolism. In contrast, the pentose phosphate pathway was not affected. With respect to lipid synthesis, low temperature led to a significant down-regulation and up-regulation of fatty acid synthase and polyunsaturated fatty acid synthase, respectively, and restricted the protein synthesis of diacylglycerol O-acyltransferase and phospholipid: diacylglycerol acyltransferase. These results show the preferential biosynthesis of polyunsaturated fatty acids and phospholipids byAurantiochytrium, which collectively serve to increase cell survival rates in cold environments.

The research was financially supported by the National Key Research and Development Program, the National Natural Science Foundation of China and Qingdao Science and Technology Development Plan.

See the paper:

Zengxin Ma, Miaomiao Tian, Yanzhen Tan, Guzhen Cui, Yingang Feng, Qiu Cui, and Xiaojin Song* (2017) Response mechanism of the docosahexaenoic acid producerAurantiochytriumunder cold stress.Algal Res.25, 191-199. [Full text(Publisher website)]