Ma Nyuk-Ling, Aziz Ahmad, Teh Kit-Yinn, Lam Su Shiung, Cha Thye-San
School of Fundamental Science, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia.
Institute of Marine Biotechnology, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia.
Sci Rep. 2018 Jun 27;8(1):9746. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-27894-0.
Nitrate is required to maintain the growth and metabolism of plant and animals. Nevertheless, in excess amount such as polluted water, its concentration can be harmful to living organisms such as microalgae. Recently, studies on microalgae response towards nutrient fluctuation are usually limited to lipid accumulation for the production of biofuels, disregarding the other potential of microalgae to be used in wastewater treatments and as source of important metabolites. Our study therefore captures the need to investigate overall metabolite changes via NMR spectroscopy approach coupled with multivariate data to understand the complex molecular process under high (4X) and low (1/4X) concentrations of nitrate ([Formula: see text]). NMR spectra with the aid of chemometric analysis revealed contrasting metabolites makeup under abundance and limited nitrate treatment. By using NMR technique, 43 types of metabolites and 8 types of fatty acid chains were detected. Nevertheless, only 20 key changes were observed and 16 were down regulated in limited nitrate condition. This paper has demonstrated the feasibility of NMR-based metabolomics approach to study the physiological impact of changing environment such as pollution to the implications for growth and productivity of microalgae population.
硝酸盐是维持动植物生长和新陈代谢所必需的。然而，在过量的情况下，如在受污染的水中，其浓度可能对微藻等生物有害。最近，关于微藻对营养波动反应的研究通常仅限于用于生物燃料生产的脂质积累，而忽略了微藻在废水处理以及作为重要代谢物来源方面的其他潜力。因此，我们的研究抓住了通过核磁共振光谱法结合多变量数据来研究整体代谢物变化的必要性，以了解在高（4倍）和低（1/4倍）硝酸盐浓度（[公式：见正文]）下的复杂分子过程。借助化学计量分析的核磁共振光谱揭示了在丰富和有限硝酸盐处理下代谢物组成的差异。通过使用核磁共振技术，检测到43种代谢物和8种脂肪酸链。然而，仅观察到20个关键变化，其中16个在有限硝酸盐条件下下调。本文证明了基于核磁共振的代谢组学方法在研究环境变化（如污染）对微藻种群生长和生产力影响方面的可行性。
