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Promotion of the Rapid Growth in Haematococcus pluvialis Under 0.16% CO2 Condition Revealed by Transcriptome and Metabolomic Analysis

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Abstract

The unicellular green alga Haematococcus pluvialis is considered the optimal natural source of astaxanthin, a strong antioxidant in nature. In the present study, transcriptome and metabolic profiling of H. pluvialis under 0.16% and 0.04% CO2 levels were performed to explore the underlying mechanism by which CO2 affects growth at the vegetative stage of this alga. Approximately 1665 differentially expressed unigenes were screened in response to different CO2 conditions by transcriptome analysis. The genes related to photosynthesis, the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, glycolysis, pentose phosphate pathway, and nitrogen metabolism, were mostly up-regulated by 0.16% CO2. A total of 36 differential metabolites were identified in metabolic profiling, of them, citric acid and ribose were accumulated; however, 12 common amino acids and stress-resistant related substrates such as ornithine and putrescine were decreased at 0.16% CO2 level. Combing the results of the algal growth, the elevated CO2 promoted photosynthesis, and carbon utilization including TCA cycle and glycolysis, together with the stimulated nitrogen metabolism, protein synthesis, and energy metabolism, which resulted in rapid growth of H. pluvialis.

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Data Availability

The raw reads were deposited in the Short Read Archive (SRA) database (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sra/) under the accession number of SRR9008963-9008965 and SRR8893734-8893736.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31572638). This research was also sponsored by the K. C. Wong Magna Fund in Ningbo University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Marine Biotechnology of Zhejiang Province, School of Marine Sciences, Ningbo University, Ningbo, 315211, China

    Xin Ye, Jiani Chen, Chaoyang Hu, Nianjun Xu & Xue Sun

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  1. Xin Ye
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  2. Jiani Chen
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  3. Chaoyang Hu
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  4. Nianjun Xu
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  5. Xue Sun
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Contributions

XY and JC were responsible of the laboratory work and manuscript preparation; CH contributed to data analysis and manuscript revision; NX and XS contributed to the experimental design and manuscript modification.

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Correspondence to Xue Sun.

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Ye, X., Chen, J., Hu, C. et al. Promotion of the Rapid Growth in Haematococcus pluvialis Under 0.16% CO2 Condition Revealed by Transcriptome and Metabolomic Analysis. J Plant Growth Regul 39, 1177–1190 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00344-019-10055-6

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