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. 2013 May 7;3(2):325-46.
doi: 10.3390/metabo3020325.

The central carbon and energy metabolism of marine diatoms

Toshihiro Obata  1 , Alisdair R Fernie  2 , Adriano Nunes-Nesi  3
Affiliations

The central carbon and energy metabolism of marine diatoms

Toshihiro Obata et al. Metabolites. .

Abstract

Diatoms are heterokont algae derived from a secondary symbiotic event in which a eukaryotic host cell acquired an eukaryotic red alga as plastid. The multiple endosymbiosis and horizontal gene transfer processes provide diatoms unusual opportunities for gene mixing to establish distinctive biosynthetic pathways and metabolic control structures. Diatoms are also known to have significant impact on global ecosystems as one of the most dominant phytoplankton species in the contemporary ocean. As such their metabolism and growth regulating factors have been of particular interest for many years. The publication of the genomic sequences of two independent species of diatoms and the advent of an enhanced experimental toolbox for molecular biological investigations have afforded far greater opportunities than were previously apparent for these species and re-invigorated studies regarding the central carbon metabolism of diatoms. In this review we discuss distinctive features of the central carbon metabolism of diatoms and its response to forthcoming environmental changes and recent advances facilitating the possibility of industrial use of diatoms for oil production. Although the operation and importance of several key pathways of diatom metabolism have already been demonstrated and determined, we will also highlight other potentially important pathways wherein this has yet to be achieved.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Summary of central carbon and energy metabolism in diatoms. DIC, dissolved inorganic carbon; LHCSR, light harvesting complex stress related; PSII, photosystem II; SBP, sedoheptulose bisphosphatase; FBP, fructose bisphosphatase; 2PGA, 2-phosphoglycerate; TCA, tricarboxylic acid
Figure 2
Figure 2
Simplified representation of the hypothesized triacylglycerol (TAG) biosynthesis and presumed subcellular compartmentalization in diatoms, which is inferred from the knowledge obtained from analyses in the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Abbreviations: PEP, phosphoenolpyruvate; OAA, oxaloacetate; ACP, acyl carrier protein; CoA, coenzyme A; DAG, diacylglycerol; DGDG, digalactosyldiacylglycerol; Met, methionine; AdoMet, S-adenosylmethionine; DGTS, nonphosphorous betaine lipid diacylglyceryl-N,N,N-trimethylhomoserine; FA, fatty acid; G-3-P, glycerol-3-phosphate; L-PtdOH, Lyso-phosphatidic acid; MGDG, monogalactosyldiacylglycerol (a membrane lipid); PtdOH, phosphatidic acid; SQDG, sulfoquinovosyldiacylglycerol; UDP Gal, UDP-galactose; ME, malic enzyme; PK, pyruvate kinase; PEPC, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase; PDC, pyruvate dehydrogenase complex; ACCase, acetyl-CoA carboxylase; MCAT, malonyl-CoA:ACP transacylase; FAsynt, Type II fatty acid synthase components; AACP, Acyl-ACP thiolase; LCAsynt, Long-chain acyl-CoA synthetase; GPACT, Glycerol-3-phosphate:acyl-ACP acyltransferase; GPAT, acyl-CoA:glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase; LPAAT, lyso-phosphatidic acid acyl transferase; PAPase, phosphatidic acid phosphatase; BTA, betaine lipid synthase; DGAT, diacylglycerol acyl transferase; MGDGsynt, Monogalactosyldiacylglycerol synthase; ADOMETsynt, AdoMet synthetase. (Adapted and modified from [96] and [97]).
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