Culture Conditions Affect Antioxidant Production, Metabolism and Related Biomarkers of the Microalgae <i>Phaeodactylum tricornutum</i>
Eleonora Curcuraci,
Simona Manuguerra,
Concetta Maria Messina,
Rosaria Arena,
Giuseppe Renda,
Theodora Ioannou,
Vito Amato,
Claire Hellio,
Francisco J. Barba,
Andrea Santulli
Affiliations
Eleonora Curcuraci
Department of Earth and Marine Sciences DiSTeM, University of Palermo, Via Barlotta 4, 91100 Trapani, Italy
Simona Manuguerra
Department of Earth and Marine Sciences DiSTeM, University of Palermo, Via Barlotta 4, 91100 Trapani, Italy
Concetta Maria Messina
Department of Earth and Marine Sciences DiSTeM, University of Palermo, Via Barlotta 4, 91100 Trapani, Italy
Rosaria Arena
Department of Earth and Marine Sciences DiSTeM, University of Palermo, Via Barlotta 4, 91100 Trapani, Italy
Giuseppe Renda
Department of Earth and Marine Sciences DiSTeM, University of Palermo, Via Barlotta 4, 91100 Trapani, Italy
Theodora Ioannou
Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 541 24 Thessaloniki, Greece
Vito Amato
L’Avannotteria Società Agricola a Responsabilità Limitata, Contrada Triglia Scaletta, 91020 Petrosino, Italy
Claire Hellio
LEMAR, IRD, CNRS, Ifremer, Université de Brest, F-29280 Plouzane, France
Francisco J. Barba
Nutrition and Food Science Area, Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Food Science, Toxicology and Forensic Medicine Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universitat de València, Av. Vicent Andrés Estellés, s/n, 46100 Burjassot, València, Spain
Andrea Santulli
Department of Earth and Marine Sciences DiSTeM, University of Palermo, Via Barlotta 4, 91100 Trapani, Italy
Phaeodactylum tricornutum (Bacillariophyta) is a worldwide-distributed diatom with the ability to adapt and survive in different environmental habitats and nutrient-limited conditions. In this research, we investigated the growth performance, the total lipids productivity, the major categories of fatty acids, and the antioxidant content in P. tricornutum subjected for 15 days to nitrogen deprivation (N−) compared to standard culture conditions (N+). Furthermore, genes and pathways related to lipid biosynthesis (i.e., glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, acetyl-coenzyme A carboxylase, citrate synthase, and isocitrate dehydrogenase) and photosynthetic activity (i.e., ribulose-1,5-bisphospate carboxylase/oxygenase and fucoxanthin-chlorophyll a/c binding protein B) were investigated through molecular approaches. P. tricornutum grown under starvation condition (N−) increased lipids production (42.5 ± 0.19 g/100 g) and decreased secondary metabolites productivity (phenolic content: 3.071 ± 0.17 mg GAE g−1; carotenoids: 0.35 ± 0.01 mg g−1) when compared to standard culture conditions (N+). Moreover, N deprivation led to an increase in the expression of genes involved in fatty acid biosynthesis and a decrease in genes related to photosynthesis. These results could be used as indicators of nitrogen limitation for environmental or industrial monitoring of P. tricornutum.
