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Updated: Nov 22, 2025

Analysis of Fatty Acid Content and Composition in Microalgae
Published on: October 1, 2013
Amino Acid Catabolism During Nitrogen Limitation in Phaeodactylum tricornutum
Yufang Pan1, Fan Hu2, Chen Yu1,3
1Key Laboratory of Algal Biology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China.
Abstract:
Diatoms can accumulate high levels of triacylglycerols (TAGs) under nitrogen depletion and have attracted increasing attention as a potential system for biofuel production. In Phaeodactylum tricornutum, a model diatom, about 40% of lipid is synthesized from the breakdown of cellular components under nitrogen starvation. Our previous studies indicated that carbon skeletons from enhanced branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) degradation under nitrogen deficiency contribute to TAG biosynthesis in P. tricornutum. In this review, we outlined the catabolic pathways of all 20 amino acids based on the genome, transcriptome, proteome, and metabolome data. The contribution of these amino acid catabolic pathways to TAG accumulation was also analyzed.
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