Nelson David R, Khraiwesh Basel, Fu Weiqi, Alseekh Saleh, Jaiswal Ashish, Chaiboonchoe Amphun, Hazzouri Khaled M, O'Connor Matthew J, Butterfoss Glenn L, Drou Nizar, Rowe Jillian D, Harb Jamil, Fernie Alisdair R, Gunsalus Kristin C, Salehi-Ashtiani Kourosh
Laboratory of Algal, Synthetic, and Systems Biology, Division of Science and Math, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Center for Genomics and Systems Biology, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Elife. 2017 Jun 17;6:e25783. doi: 10.7554/eLife.25783.
To investigate the phenomic and genomic traits that allow green algae to survive in deserts, we characterized a ubiquitous species, , which we isolated from multiple locations in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Metabolomic analyses of indicated that the alga accumulates a broad range of carbon sources, including several desiccation tolerance-promoting sugars and unusually large stores of palmitate. Growth assays revealed capacities to grow in salinities from zero to 60 g/L and to grow heterotrophically on >40 distinct carbon sources. Assembly and annotation of genomic reads yielded a 52.5 Mbp genome with 8153 functionally annotated genes. Comparison with other sequenced green algae revealed unique protein families involved in osmotic stress tolerance and saccharide metabolism that support phenomic studies. Our results reveal the robust and flexible biology utilized by a green alga to successfully inhabit a desert coastline.
为了研究使绿藻能够在沙漠中生存的表型和基因组特征，我们对一种广泛分布的物种进行了表征，该物种是我们从阿拉伯联合酋长国（UAE）的多个地点分离出来的。对该物种的代谢组学分析表明，这种藻类积累了广泛的碳源，包括几种促进耐干燥性的糖类以及异常大量储存的棕榈酸酯。生长试验表明，它能够在盐度从零到60 g/L的环境中生长，并能在40多种不同的碳源上进行异养生长。基因组读数的组装和注释产生了一个52.5 Mbp的基因组，其中有8153个具有功能注释的基因。与其他已测序的绿藻进行比较，发现了参与渗透胁迫耐受性和糖类代谢的独特蛋白质家族，这为表型研究提供了支持。我们的结果揭示了一种绿藻所利用的强大而灵活的生物学特性，使其能够成功地栖息在沙漠海岸线上。
