Pigment and Fatty Acid Production under Different Light Qualities in the Diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum

Diatoms are microscopic biorefineries producing value-added molecules, including unique pigments, triglycerides (TAGs) and long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs), with potential implications in aquaculture feeding and the food or biofuel industries. These molecules are utilized in vivo fo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied sciences 2021-03, Vol.11 (6), p.2550
Main Authors: Duarte, Bernardo, Feijão, Eduardo, Goessling, Johannes W., Caçador, Isabel, Matos, Ana Rita
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acid production
Algae
Alzheimer's disease
Aquaculture
Biofuels
Carotenoids
Cell culture
Chlorophyll
Eicosapentaenoic acid
Electromagnetic absorption
Energy harvesting
Fatty acids
Food industry
Fucoxanthin
Illumination
Light emitting diodes
Lipids
Marine microorganisms
Metabolism
Metabolites
Phaedactylum tricornutum
Phaeodactylum tricornutum
photochemistry
Photosynthesis
Physiology
Pigments
single wavelength LEDs
Spectra
Tags
Triglycerides
Wavelengths
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Summary:Diatoms are microscopic biorefineries producing value-added molecules, including unique pigments, triglycerides (TAGs) and long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs), with potential implications in aquaculture feeding and the food or biofuel industries. These molecules are utilized in vivo for energy harvesting from sunlight to drive photosynthesis and as photosynthetic storage products, respectively. In the present paper, we evaluate the effect of narrow-band spectral illumination on carotenoid, LC-PUFAs and TAG contents in the model diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum. Shorter wavelengths in the blue spectral range resulted in higher production of total fatty acids, namely saturated TAGs. Longer wavelengths in the red spectral range increased the cell’s content in Hexadecatrienoic acid (HTA) and Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). Red wavelengths induced higher production of photoprotective carotenoids, namely fucoxanthin. In combination, the results demonstrate how diatom value-added molecule production can be modulated by spectral light control during the growth. How diatoms could use such mechanisms to regulate efficient light absorption and cell buoyancy in the open ocean is discussed.
ISSN:2076-3417
2076-3417
DOI:10.3390/app11062550