Temperature regulates fatty acid desaturases at a transcriptional level and modulates the fatty acid profile in the Antarctic microalga Chlamydomonas sp. ICE-L.

Chlamydomonas sp. ICE-L which can thrive in extreme environments of the Antarctic is a major biomass producer. The FAD genes in Chlamydomonas sp. ICE-L were obtained and sequence alignment showed that these genes are homologous to known FADs with conserved histidine motifs. In this study, we analyzed the transcription of five FADs and FA compositions at different temperatures. The results showed that the expressions of Δ9CiFAD, ω3CiFAD1 and ω3CiFAD2 were apparently up-regulated at 0°C, however, the up-regulation of Δ6CiFAD intensified with rising temperature. Meanwhile, analysis of the FA compositions showed that PUFAs were dominant compositions, accounting for more than 75% TFA in Chlamydomonas sp. ICE-L. Furthermore, PUFAs were significantly increased at 0 and 5°C, which may be attributed to higher proportions of C18:3 and C20:3. Moreover, PUFAs were significantly decreased at 15°C whereas SFAs were significantly increased.