Project description:Purpose: The purpose of this study are to identify the miRNA involved in regulating the production of metabolites in Chlorella sorokiniana and Chlorella zofingiensis under normal and stress-induced condition through RNA-sequencing technique. Methods: miRNA transcriptome profile from normal and stress sample of C. sorokiniana and C. zofingiensis were generated, in triplicate, using Illumina Miseq. The sequence reads that passed quality filters were analysed using CLC genomic workbench and OmiRas. Results: The known and predicted novel miRNAs were identified. Although most of the identified miRNAs were not functionally determined, this study suggests that they were species-specific, which may have roles in regulating genes during stress related condition.
Project description:We demonstrate that low-dose ionizing radiation from X-rays drives metabolic activation in microalgae. We exploited this phenomenon to develop a method for increased lipid yield in stationary phase Chlorella sorokiniana cultures by 25% in just 24 hours, caused by a reproducible metabolic response that includes up-regulation of >30 lipid metabolism genes. This approach avoids the need to modify the strain or cultivation conditions, and does not affect cell viability or biomass.