Imidazole as chemical stimulant induces the accumulation of β-cryptoxanthin in Dunaliella tertiolecta

作者：Dai, Jv-Liang; Chen, Hao-Hong^*; Jiang, Jian-Guo^*

来源：Algal Research-Biomass Biofuels and Bioproducts, 2024, 77: 103336.

DOI：10.1016/j.algal.2023.103336

• beta-Cryptoxanthin
• Imidazole
• Dunaliella tertiolecta
• Light intensity
• Carotenoid biosynthesis pathway

beta-cryptoxanthin is the most commercially valuable carotenoid, which is scarce in nature and expensive to synthesize. In view of this, a facile and efficient approach to promote the massive accumulation of beta-cryptoxanthin in Dunaliella tertiolecta with imidazole was proposed in this study. The results showed that imidazole significantly reduced the biomass, chlorophyll content and total carotenoid content of D. tertiolecta, but greatly increased the content of beta-cryptoxanthin in a short time (4 days). Furthermore, the treatment of imidazole combined with different light intensities could further promote the accumulation of beta-cryptoxanthin. The combined treatment of 500 ppm imidazole and 8000 lx light intensity for 4 days is most conducive to the accumulation of beta-cryptox- anthin in D. tertiolecta, resulting in total and single-cell contents of 0.079 mu g/mL and 0.015 mu g/107 cells, respectively. In addition, the increase in the transcription levels of DtBHY and DtZEP under imidazole treatment may be the underlying cause of the massive accumulation of beta-cryptoxanthin in D. tertiolecta. These results demonstrate that imidazole is an effective chemical inducer for beta-cryptoxanthin production in D. tertiolecta, which provides valuable information and insights for enhancing beta-cryptoxanthin accumulation in microalgae and plants.