Project description:Dunaliella salina Bardawil (also known as Dunaliella bardawil) is an extremophilic, unicellular green alga from the Chlorophyte lineage. D. salina is found in hypersaline environments where it can tolerate extremes of heat, light, pH, and up to saturating concentrations of salt. The D. salina Bardawil isolate (UTEX LB 2538) was found in a salt pond near the Bardawil Lagoon on the Sinai peninsula in 1976. This isolate of D. salina is the richest natural source of beta-carotene, a highly valuable commercial product. This accession includes an RNA-Seq analysis of D. salina Bardawil cultures grown in iron-replete (1.5 µM) or iron-deficient (0 µM) media.
Project description:The unicellular green alga Dunaliella salina is an attractive model organism for studying photoacclimation responses. Changes in irradiance levels during cell growth affect the organization and structure of the photosystem and the pigments composition. We sequenced the RNA of D. salina to investigate the transcriptomic response of the organism after transitioning from normal light conditions to higher light intensity. Specific transcripts encoding for enzymes involved in photosynthesis were down-regulated, whereas genes involved in the metabolism of carotenoid and triacylglycerol were up-regulated. Genes encoding for photoprotective enzymes related to reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging and to the xanthophyll cycle were also up-regulated at higher irradiance levels. The present transcriptomic study would assist in the comprehensive understanding of photoacclimation mechanisms of D. salina.
Project description:Dunaliella salina has been recognized as a model organism for stress response research due to its high capacity to tolerate extreme salt stress. An iTRAQ-based proteomic approach was used to analyze the proteome of D. salina during early response to salt stress, and identify the differentially expressed proteins (DEPs). A total of 141 DEPs were identified in salt-treated samples, including 75 up-regulated and 66 up-regulated proteins after 3 and 24 h salt stress (p<0.05). The patterns of protein accumulation exhibited changes, including dynamics of tricarboxylic acid cycle, photosynthesis and oxidative phosphorylation pathways.
