Sequencing and de novo analysis of Dunaliella tertiolecta transcriptome
The availability of only limited number of microalgae genome sequences hinders the efforts of optimization and metabolic engineering studies in biofuel production from microalgae. Here we describe a comprehensive sequencing, and de novo assembly of a non-model microalgae species, Dunaliella tertiolecta, transcriptome, and provide its pathway descriptions along with identified key genes of importance related to biofuel production. D. tertiolecta transcriptome was sequenced using 454 pyrosequencing technology with Titanium chemistry. Assembled sequences were subjected to BLAST similarity search against “nr” databases of National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) and annotated with Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) orthology (KO) identifiers. These target-based analyses identified the majority of biosynthesis and catabolism of lipids and starch pathways in D. tertiolecta. The presented work describes the first de novo sequencing and analysis of a non-model marine microalgae transcriptome. Our results also provide a comprehensive foundation for the molecular genetics, functional genomics and genetic engineering of microalgae for enhanced production of next-generation biofuels.