Aquatic Institute discovers a new molecule as a carbon sink in the oil-producing marine Nannochloropsis

Recently, the research group used Nannochloropsis marine as the object to reveal the important role of PDAT in regulating lipid metabolism and pooling intracellular carbon flow, and found that cells synthesize a new carbon replacement for TAG under stress conditions.

Figure 1 : Cellular localization of NoPDAT ( A , green and red fluorescence are NoPDAT-eGFP fusion protein and chloroplast signal, respectively), reduction of neutral lipids ( B ) and changes in total fatty acid ( TFA ) and TAG content ( C ) due to NoPDAT knockdown ) 

The researchers also found that mutations in NoPDAT lead to the massive accumulation of a new class of phosphatidylethanolamines ( PE ) in cells, which are associated with intracellular polyunsaturated fatty acids ( C20:4 and C20:5 ) rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids.

Figure 2 : Schematic diagram of NoPDAT regulating lipid metabolism in Nannochloropsis marine cells

Plasmalogen is a special ether phospholipid present in almost all human tissues, with the highest concentration in the brain, and its deficiency is closely related to diseases of the elderly such as Alzheimer's disease

This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China ( 41976119 ) and the Major Research Program ( 91751117 ) under the auspices of researcher Hu Hanhua, mainly by researchers from the Institute of Hydrobiology