Metabolomics Reveal the Overview of Lipid Accumulation Mechanism in Oil-rich Microalgae

Abstract

Oil-rich algae are potentially promising as next-generation biofuel feedstock. Oil, principally triacylglycerol (TAG), accumulation has been observed in numerous species or strains of various algal taxa under several different culture conditions, which are nutrient-deficient, chemical stimulus and physical stress. However, the productivity of algal oil needs to be improved for industrial use. The biosynthesis of TAG and its control mechanism have not been characterized in any algae, and understanding the metabolic network is vital to achieve the precise engineering of algae metabolic pathways. In this decade, mass spectrometry-based metabolome analysis has become an important tool for characterizing intracellular metabolic profiles. Metabolome analysis is a useful application for model organisms and for uncommon organisms because it does not require genomics or other “omics” information. Quantitative and qualitative measurements of large numbers of cellular metabolites are useful to elucidate the dynamics of biological systems. The applications of metabolomics to oil-rich algae are introduced in this article.