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Salt-stress and plant hormone-like responses for selective reactions of esterified xanthophylls in the aerial microalga Coelastrella sp. KGU-Y002

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Abstract

Esterification of xanthophylls is important for improving their bioactive potency. The effects of metal cations on esterified xanthophyll biosynthesis and on the accumulation and composition of salt stress-induced carotenoids were investigated in the aerial microalga Coelastrella sp. KGU-Y002 (Chlorophyta, Scenedesmaceae). Under nitrogen-deficient and high-light conditions, salt-supplemented cultures showed enhanced synthesis of esterified astaxanthin, adonixanthin, and zeaxanthin. In particular, KCl supplementation caused a remarkable increase in esterification, such that 73 % of xanthophylls were esterified. After 1 day of KCl treatment, the concentration of endogenous abscisic acid had increased to 200-fold its initial concentration. In algal cells treated with abscisic acid in nitrogen-deficient and high-light conditions, the reactive oxygen species concentration was almost the same as that in the KCl-supplemented culture. In these algal cells, abscisic acid enhanced esterification without affecting total carotenoid accumulation. These findings suggested that xanthophyll esterification is regulated during the response to salt stress by abscisic acid, which has plant hormone-like bioactivity in this aerial microalga. Further studies have been designed to examine large-scale production of esterified xanthophylls by this aerial microalga under salt-stress conditions, and to assess the bioactivity of esterified xanthophylls extracted from algal cells.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by a grant from the Strategic Research Foundation Grant-aided Project for Private Universities from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport, Science, and Technology, Japan (S1411005). This work was supported in part by the Research Institute for Science and Technology of Kogakuin University for a special Grant-in-Aid to earn KAKENHI by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry and Life Science, School of Advanced Engineering, Kogakuin University, 2665-1 Nakano-machi, Hachioji, Tokyo, 192-0015, Japan

    Kazeaki Saeki, Nobuhiro Aburai & Katsuya Abe

  2. Department of Technology and Ecology, Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Yoshida-Honmachi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8501, Japan

    Shogo Aratani & Hideaki Miyashita

  3. Department of Interdisciplinary Environment, Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Yoshida-Nihonmatsu-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8501, Japan

    Hideaki Miyashita

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  1. Kazeaki Saeki
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  2. Nobuhiro Aburai
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  3. Shogo Aratani
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  4. Hideaki Miyashita
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  5. Katsuya Abe
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Correspondence to Katsuya Abe.

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Saeki, K., Aburai, N., Aratani, S. et al. Salt-stress and plant hormone-like responses for selective reactions of esterified xanthophylls in the aerial microalga Coelastrella sp. KGU-Y002. J Appl Phycol 29, 115–122 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-016-0911-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-016-0911-7

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