Dunaliella tertiolecta
Transcriptomics-based gene discovery and pathway reconstruction of value-added metabolites in the microalgae Dunaliella tertiolecta
Microalgae derived biofuel feedstock stands as a feasible candidate to decrease the burden of oil demand. High photosynthetic efficiency, growth rate, and lipid content are among the several advantages, however, production costs related to large-scale cultivation and down-stream applications still precedes the usage of microalgae-based biofuels efficiently. To decrease the costs related to biofuel reduction, production of value-added metabolites could be coupled to utilization of microalgae feedstock.  In this study, we incorporate the power of next-generation DNA sequencing based transcriptomics to identify the key genes of importance responsible for the biosynthesis of several value-added metabolites including ß-carotene, vitamins C and E, and phytosterols produced in non-model microalgae Dunaliella tertiolecta. Our approach well defined the transcriptome of D. tertiolecta relying on cDNA libraries generated and sequenced; resulting in 42,341 unique sequences and 77 transcripts encoding for biosynthesis of ß-carotene, vitamins C and E, and phytosterols. Results will provide basis for metabolic engineering of biosynthetic pathways and gene manupulation applicable in biotechnological production of these value-added metabolites.