Overexpression of Key Sterol Pathway Enzymes in Two Model Marine Diatoms Alters Sterol Profiles in Phaeodactylum tricornutum.

ABSTRACT: Sterols are a class of triterpenoid molecules with diverse functional roles in eukaryotic cells, including intracellular signaling and regulation of cell membrane fluidity. Diatoms are a dominant eukaryotic phytoplankton group that produce a wide diversity of sterol compounds. The enzymes 3-hydroxy-3-methyl glutaryl CoA reductase (HMGR) and squalene epoxidase (SQE) have been reported to be rate-limiting steps in sterol biosynthesis in other model eukaryotes; however, the extent to which these enzymes regulate triterpenoid production in diatoms is not known. To probe the role of these two metabolic nodes in the regulation of sterol metabolic flux in diatoms, we independently over-expressed two versions of the native HMGR and a conventional, heterologous SQE gene in the diatoms

SUBMITTER: Jaramillo-Madrid AC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7766473 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature