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Expression and knockdown of the PEPC1 gene affect carbon flux in the biosynthesis of triacylglycerols by the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

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Abstract

The regulation of lipid biosynthesis is important in photosynthetic eukaryotic cells. This regulation is facilitated by the direct synthesis of fatty acids and triacylglycerol (TAG), and by other controls of the main carbon metabolic pathway. In this study, knockdown of the mRNA expression of the Chlamydomonas phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase isoform 1 (CrPEPC1) gene by RNA interference increased TAG level by 20 % but decreased PEPC activities in the corresponding transgenic algae by 39–50 %. The decrease in CrPEPC1 expression increased the expression of TAG biosynthesis-related genes, such as acyl-CoA:diacylglycerol acyltransferase and phosphatidate phosphatase. Conversely, CrPEPC1 over-expression decreased TAG level by 37 % and increased PEPC activities by 157–184 %. These observations suggest that the lipid content of algal cells can be controlled by regulating the CrPEPC1 gene.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31160050, 31360051, 31000117), the Major Technology Project of Hainan (ZDZX2013023-1), the National Nonprofit Institute Research Grants (CATAS-ITBB110507, 130305), the Funds of Hainan Engineering and Technological Research (GCZX2011006, GCZX2012004, GCZX2013004), and the Natural Science Foundation of Hainan Province (313077).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Tropical Crop Biotechnology, Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Tropical Bioscience and Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Science, Haikou, 571101, China

    Xiaodong Deng, Jiajia Cai & Yajun Li

  2. School of Science, Hainan Medical College, Haikou, 571101, China

    Xiaowen Fei

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  1. Xiaodong Deng
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  2. Jiajia Cai
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  3. Yajun Li
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  4. Xiaowen Fei
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Correspondence to Xiaowen Fei.

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Deng, X., Cai, J., Li, Y. et al. Expression and knockdown of the PEPC1 gene affect carbon flux in the biosynthesis of triacylglycerols by the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii . Biotechnol Lett 36, 2199–2208 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10529-014-1593-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10529-014-1593-3

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