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A type-I diacylglycerol acyltransferase modulates triacylglycerol biosynthesis and fatty acid composition in the oleaginous microalga, Nannochloropsis oceanica

Overview of attention for article published in Biotechnology for Biofuels and Bioproducts, July 2017
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Title
A type-I diacylglycerol acyltransferase modulates triacylglycerol biosynthesis and fatty acid composition in the oleaginous microalga, Nannochloropsis oceanica
Published in
Biotechnology for Biofuels and Bioproducts, July 2017
DOI 10.1186/s13068-017-0858-1
Pubmed ID
Authors

Hehong Wei, Ying Shi, Xiaonian Ma, Yufang Pan, Hanhua Hu, Yantao Li, Ming Luo, Henri Gerken, Jin Liu

Abstract

Photosynthetic oleaginous microalgae are considered promising feedstocks for biofuels. The marine microalga, Nannochloropsis oceanica, has been attracting ever-increasing interest because of its fast growth, high triacylglycerol (TAG) content, and available genome sequence and genetic tools. Diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT) catalyzes the last and committed step of TAG biosynthesis in the acyl-CoA-dependent pathway. Previous studies have identified 13 putative DGAT-encoding genes in the genome of N. oceanica, but the functional role of DGAT genes, especially type-I DGAT (DGAT1), remains ambiguous. Nannochloropsis oceanica IMET1 possesses two DGAT1 genes: NoDGAT1A and NoDGAT1B. Functional complementation demonstrated the capability of NoDGAT1A rather than NoDGAT1B to restore TAG synthesis in a TAG-deficient yeast strain. In vitro DGAT assays revealed that NoDGAT1A preferred saturated/monounsaturated acyl-CoAs and eukaryotic diacylglycerols (DAGs) for TAG synthesis, while NoDGAT1B had no detectable enzymatic activity. Assisted with green fluorescence protein (GFP) fusion, fluorescence microscopy analysis indicated the localization of NoDGAT1A in the chloroplast endoplasmic reticulum (cER) of N. oceanica. NoDGAT1A knockdown caused ~25% decline in TAG content upon nitrogen depletion, accompanied by the reduced C16:0, C18:0, and C18:1 in TAG sn-1/sn-3 positions and C18:1 in the TAG sn-2 position. NoDGAT1A overexpression, on the other hand, led to ~39% increase in TAG content upon nitrogen depletion, accompanied by the enhanced C16:0 and C18:1 in the TAG sn-1/sn-3 positions and C18:1 in the TAG sn-2 position. Interestingly, NoDGAT1A overexpression also promoted TAG accumulation (by ~2.4-fold) under nitrogen-replete conditions without compromising cell growth, and TAG yield of the overexpression line reached 0.49 g L(-1) at the end of a 10-day batch culture, 47% greater than that of the control line. Taken together, our work demonstrates the functional role of NoDGAT1A and sheds light on the underlying mechanism for the biosynthesis of various TAG species in N. oceanica. NoDGAT1A resides likely in cER and prefers to transfer C16 and C18 saturated/monounsaturated fatty acids to eukaryotic DAGs for TAG assembly. This work also provides insights into the rational genetic engineering of microalgae by manipulating rate-limiting enzymes such as DGAT to modulate TAG biosynthesis and fatty acid composition for biofuel production.

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Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 91 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Unknown 91 100%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Ph. D. Student 19 21%
Student > Master 12 13%
Student > Bachelor 10 11%
Researcher 8 9%
Other 3 3%
Other 12 13%
Unknown 27 30%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 27 30%
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 18 20%
Chemical Engineering 3 3%
Engineering 3 3%
Business, Management and Accounting 1 1%
Other 5 5%
Unknown 34 37%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 2. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 17 July 2017.
All research outputs
#15,173,117
of 25,382,440 outputs
Outputs from Biotechnology for Biofuels and Bioproducts
#790
of 1,578 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#170,324
of 325,782 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Biotechnology for Biofuels and Bioproducts
#26
of 51 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,382,440 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 38th percentile – i.e., 38% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 1,578 research outputs from this source. They receive a mean Attention Score of 4.9. This one is in the 46th percentile – i.e., 46% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 325,782 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one is in the 45th percentile – i.e., 45% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
We're also able to compare this research output to 51 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 39th percentile – i.e., 39% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.