AUTHOR=He Xi , Dai Junbiao , Wu Qingyu 

TITLE=Identification of Sporopollenin as the Outer Layer of Cell Wall in Microalga Chlorella protothecoides

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=7

YEAR=2016

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2016.01047

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2016.01047

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p><italic>Chlorella protothecoides</italic> has been put forth as a promising candidate for commercial biodiesel production. However, the cost of biodiesel remains much higher than diesel from fossil fuel sources, partially due to the high costs of oil extraction from algae. Here, we identified the presence of a sporopollenin layer outside the polysaccharide cell wall; this was evaluated using transmission electron microscopy, 2-aminoethanol treatment, acetolysis, and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy. We also performed bioinformatics analysis of the genes of the <italic>C. protothecoides</italic> genome that are likely involved in sporopollenin synthesis, secretion, and translocation, and evaluated the expression of these genes via real-time PCR. We also found that that removal of this sporopollenin layer greatly improved the efficiency of oil extraction.</p>