AUTHOR=Chen Duo , Li Zhenhui , Shi Jiaxian , Suen Huamiao , Zheng Xuehai , Zhang Cifeng , Chen Youqiang , Xue Ting 

TITLE=Genomics and transcriptomics reveal β-carotene synthesis mechanism in Dunaliella salina

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=15

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2024.1389224

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2024.1389224

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p><italic>Dunaliella salina</italic> is by far the most salt-tolerant organism and contains many active substances, including β-carotene, glycerol, proteins, and vitamins, using in the production of dried biomass or cell extracts for the biofuels, pharmaceutical formulations, food additives, and fine chemicals, especially β-carotene. We report a high-quality genome sequence of <italic>D. Salina</italic> FACHB435, which has a 472 Mb genome size, with a contig N50 of 458 Kb. A total of 30,752 protein-coding genes were predicted. The annotation results evaluated by BUSCO was shown that completeness was 91.0% and replication was 53.1%. The fragments were 6.3% and the deletions were 2.6%. Phylogenomic and comparative genomic analyses revealed that <italic>A. thaliana</italic> diverged from Volvocales about 448 million years ago, then <italic>Volvocales C. eustigma</italic>, <italic>D. salina</italic>, and other species diverged about 250 million years ago. High light could promote the accumulation of β-carotene in <italic>D. salina</italic> at a 13 d stage of culture. The enrichment of DEGs in KEGG, it notes that the predicted up-regulated genes of carotenoid metabolic pathway include <italic>DsCrtB, DsPDS, DsZ-ISO, DsZDS, DsCRTISO, DsLUT5, DsCrtL-B</italic>, and <italic>DsCCD8</italic>, while the predicted down-regulated genes include <italic>DsCrtF</italic>, and <italic>DsLUT1</italic>. The four genes that were both up-regulated and down-regulated were <italic>DsZEP, DsCrtR-b, DsCruA/P</italic> and <italic>DsCrtZ 4</italic>. The research results can provide scientific basis for the industrialization practice of <italic>D. salina</italic>.</p>