Genome Annotation and Transcriptomics of Oil-Producing Algae
Abstract
Most algae accumulate triacylglycerols (TAGs) when they are starved for essential nutrients like N, S, P (or Si in the case of some diatoms). We had proposed to use whole transcriptome analyses to detail the changes in gene expression that occur during N-starvation induced TAG accumulation in Chlamydomonas. We used RNA-Seq on the Illumina platform for quantitative determination of the Chlamydomonas transcriptome. Deep coverage over multiple time points in nearly a dozen different experiments in at least 3 strains allowed us to distinguish early responses to the stress signal and to unequivocally identify relevant changes in RNA abundance. This led to the functional identification of 8 acyltransferases, several of which were documented to have a role in TAG accumulation in stressed algal cells, and candidate regulators of the N starvation response. We used our RNA-Seq data analysis pipeline for building and quantitating transcripts from Chlorella and Cyclotella in TAG-producing conditions and we assembled a draft genome for Cyclotella. During a period of project extension, we generated new strand-specific RNA-Seq data from ribosomal RNA-depleted preparations of RNA for the purpose of identifying regulatory lncRNAs.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 16, 2015
- Accession Number
- ADA622412
Entities
People
- Matteo Pellegrini
- Sabeeha Merchant
Organizations
- University of California, Los Angeles