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Novel insights into type 2 diacylglycerol acyltransferases in microalga Myrmecia incisa

  • 10th Asia-Pacific Conference on Algal Biotechnology
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Abstract

The green alga Myrmecia incisa is rich in arachidonic acid (ArA), which mainly stores in lipid droplets in the form of triacylglycerol (TAG). In the de novo biosynthesis of TAG, diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT) catalyzes the final and committed step as a rate-limiting enzyme. Previously, our lab has reported the first DGAT in M. incisa, and in this study, a new DGAT was further identified. Through homology search against our transcriptome database and annotation, a new contig corresponding to the putative DGAT2 was targeted, whose full-length cDNA was cloned by RACE and designated as MiDGAT2C. For this new MiDGAT2C, bioinformatics analyses revealed the presence of multiple conserved amino acid residues and sequences. Its function to synthesize TAG was determined by complementation assay using the TAG-deficient yeast system. Besides, MiDGAT2C was compared with other MiDGATs with respect to their substrate preference. Results of fatty acid feeding and in vitro enzymatic assays indicated diverse substrate specificities among MiDGAT members. While MiDGAT2C showed no activity on ArA, MiDGAT2A made the most contribution to incorporate ArA into TAG. Findings of this study expand our knowledge on the molecular basis of DGAT, shedding more light on M. incisa as a promising feedstock for ArA-rich TAG.

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Funding

This study received financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC, 31772821), NSFC−Shandong Joint Fund (U1706209), and the State Double First-Class Discipline Project of Aquaculture.

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Author notes

  1. Wei Liu and Zheng Sun contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Exploration and Utilization of Aquatic Genetic Resources, Ministry of Education, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai, 201306, China

    Wei Liu, Zheng Sun, Chun-Xiu Chen & Zhi-Gang Zhou

  2. International Research Center for Marine Biosciences, Ministry of Science and Technology, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai, 201306, China

    Wei Liu, Zheng Sun, Chun-Xiu Chen & Zhi-Gang Zhou

  3. National Demonstration Center for Experimental Fisheries Science Education, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai, 201306, China

    Wei Liu, Zheng Sun, Chun-Xiu Chen & Zhi-Gang Zhou

  4. Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, 266071, China

    Jian-Guo Liu

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  1. Wei Liu
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  3. Chun-Xiu Chen
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Liu, W., Sun, Z., Chen, CX. et al. Novel insights into type 2 diacylglycerol acyltransferases in microalga Myrmecia incisa. J Appl Phycol 33, 25–35 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-020-02071-x

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