Lipid Metabolism, Regulation and Biosynthesis of Microalgae

A special issue of Life (ISSN 2075-1729). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Science".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2023) | Viewed by 1080

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Marine Resource Utilization in the South China Sea, Hainan University, Haikou, China
Interests: microalgae; lipid metabolism; triacylglycerol; diacylglycerol acyltransferase

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Guest Editor
School of Life Science and Biotechnology, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China
Interests: microalgae; lipid metabolism; synthetic biology
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Microalgae are attracting renewed interest from both the scientific and public communities owing to their potential applications as sustainable feed stocks for the production of biofuels and high-value compounds, and environmental remediation. Compared with traditional oil crops, microalgae have the advantages of rapid growth, high lipid content, non-occupation of arable land, etc. Microalgal lipids, especially triacylglycerol, and practical applications of these compounds have received increasing attention in recent years. For the commercial use of microalgal lipids to be feasible, many fundamental biological questions must be addressed based on detailed studies of algal biology, including how lipid biosynthesis occurs and is regulated. 

In order to better understand and manipulate microalgal lipid metabolism for improvements in lipid production, we set up this Special Issue, which is edited by Dr. Yi Xin and Dr. Fantao Kong, and will focus on the current knowledge on biosynthetic pathways, signaling regulation, and metabolic engineering of microalgal lipids. Moreover, this Special Issue will concern advanced technologies which have been applied in the enhanced lipid production of microalgae. These endeavors will point to new possible avenues of genetic engineering of lipid metabolism in this organism group, and may also inform studies of lipid metabolism in plants.

Dr. Yi Xin
Dr. Fantao Kong
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • microalgae
  • lipid biosynthesis
  • lipid metabolism
  • carbon and nitrogen metabolism
  • energy metabolism
  • genetic engineering
  • genome editing
  • environmental stress
  • signaling regulation
  • tag biosynthesis
  • biochemical regulation

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

18 pages, 1123 KiB  
Review
Towards Lipid from Microalgae: Products, Biosynthesis, and Genetic Engineering
by Yi Xin, Shan Wu, Congcong Miao, Tao Xu and Yandu Lu
Life 2024, 14(4), 447; https://doi.org/10.3390/life14040447 - 28 Mar 2024
Viewed by 868
Abstract
Microalgae can convert carbon dioxide into organic matter through photosynthesis. Thus, they are considered as an environment-friendly and efficient cell chassis for biologically active metabolites. Microalgal lipids are a class of organic compounds that can be used as raw materials for food, feed, [...] Read more.
Microalgae can convert carbon dioxide into organic matter through photosynthesis. Thus, they are considered as an environment-friendly and efficient cell chassis for biologically active metabolites. Microalgal lipids are a class of organic compounds that can be used as raw materials for food, feed, cosmetics, healthcare products, bioenergy, etc., with tremendous potential for commercialization. In this review, we summarized the commercial lipid products from eukaryotic microalgae, and updated the mechanisms of lipid synthesis in microalgae. Moreover, we reviewed the enhancement of lipids, triglycerides, polyunsaturated fatty acids, pigments, and terpenes in microalgae via environmental induction and/or metabolic engineering in the past five years. Collectively, we provided a comprehensive overview of the products, biosynthesis, induced strategies and genetic engineering in microalgal lipids. Meanwhile, the outlook has been presented for the development of microalgal lipids industries, emphasizing the significance of the accurate analysis of lipid bioactivity, as well as the high-throughput screening of microalgae with specific lipids. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Lipid Metabolism, Regulation and Biosynthesis of Microalgae)
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