Identifying toxicity and tolerance mechanisms of Chlorella sp. exposure to phenol through growth inhibition and comparative transcriptomic analysis

IF 1 Q4 GENETICS & HEREDITY

Gene Reports Pub Date : 2025-04-15 DOI:10.1016/j.genrep.2025.102227

Manlin Yan, Quanyu Zhao

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Abstract

Phenol is a typical pollutant in the industrial wastewaters. Degradation capacity of microalgae strongly affects the toxicity of phenol. Not all kinds of microalgae can degrade phenol. In this study, one algal strain, Chlorella sp. QY-1, was selected that cannot degrade phenol. The ecotoxicity of phenol was evaluated by the growth inhibition test and the molecular mechanism was investigated by comparative transcriptomic analysis. Chlorella sp. QY-1 cannot degrade phenol which increase the toxicity and reduce the tolerance compared with a phenol-degrading algal strain, Chlorella sp. L5. Chlorella sp. Comparative transcriptomic analysis revealed the toxicity and tolerance at the gene level. Phenol led to the damage of the related genes of cell wall and DNA replications. No down-regulated genes were found in photosynthesis pathway. It was proved that the down-regulations of CO₂ fixation, ABC transporters and MAPK (mitogen-activated protein kinase) signaling pathway led to the growth inhibition. Only one gene of superoxide dismutase (SOD) was identified to be down-regulated significantly in the related genes to antioxidant enzymes. Theζ-carotene desaturase gene, ZDS, in the pathway of carotenoid biosynthesis was up-regulated. It was indicated that the pigment biosynthesis was part of tolerance. The up-regulated of transcription factor IIH, CCNH, was also beneficial to the tolerance of phenol. The current finding is valuable to evaluate the ecotoxicity of microalgae to pollutants.

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通过生长抑制和比较转录组分析确定小球藻暴露于苯酚的毒性和耐受性机制

苯酚是工业废水中的一种典型污染物。微藻的降解能力对苯酚的毒性有很大影响。并不是所有种类的微藻都能降解苯酚。本研究选取了一株不能降解苯酚的小球藻（Chlorella sp. QY-1）。通过生长抑制试验评价苯酚的生态毒性，通过比较转录组学分析探讨苯酚的分子机制。小球藻sp. QY-1与苯酚降解藻类小球藻sp. L5相比，不能降解苯酚，毒性增加，耐受性降低。比较转录组学分析在基因水平上揭示了小球藻的毒性和耐受性。苯酚导致细胞壁相关基因的损伤和DNA复制。光合途径未发现下调基因。实验证明，CO2固定、ABC转运体和MAPK（丝裂原活化蛋白激酶）信号通路下调导致了生长抑制。在抗氧化酶相关基因中，发现超氧化物歧化酶（SOD）基因中只有1个基因明显下调。类胡萝卜素生物合成通路中ζ-胡萝卜素去饱和酶基因（ZDS）表达上调。表明色素的生物合成是耐受性的一部分。转录因子IIH （CCNH）的上调也有利于对苯酚的耐受性。本研究结果对评价微藻对污染物的生态毒性具有一定的参考价值。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Gene Reports Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology-Genetics

CiteScore

3.30

自引率

7.70%

发文量

246

审稿时长

49 days

期刊介绍： Gene Reports publishes papers that focus on the regulation, expression, function and evolution of genes in all biological contexts, including all prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms, as well as viruses. Gene Reports strives to be a very diverse journal and topics in all fields will be considered for publication. Although not limited to the following, some general topics include: DNA Organization, Replication & Evolution -Focus on genomic DNA (chromosomal organization, comparative genomics, DNA replication, DNA repair, mobile DNA, mitochondrial DNA, chloroplast DNA). Expression & Function - Focus on functional RNAs (microRNAs, tRNAs, rRNAs, mRNA splicing, alternative polyadenylation) Regulation - Focus on processes that mediate gene-read out (epigenetics, chromatin, histone code, transcription, translation, protein degradation). Cell Signaling - Focus on mechanisms that control information flow into the nucleus to control gene expression (kinase and phosphatase pathways controlled by extra-cellular ligands, Wnt, Notch, TGFbeta/BMPs, FGFs, IGFs etc.) Profiling of gene expression and genetic variation - Focus on high throughput approaches (e.g., DeepSeq, ChIP-Seq, Affymetrix microarrays, proteomics) that define gene regulatory circuitry, molecular pathways and protein/protein networks. Genetics - Focus on development in model organisms (e.g., mouse, frog, fruit fly, worm), human genetic variation, population genetics, as well as agricultural and veterinary genetics. Molecular Pathology & Regenerative Medicine - Focus on the deregulation of molecular processes in human diseases and mechanisms supporting regeneration of tissues through pluripotent or multipotent stem cells.