Transcriptome analysis of Dunaliella viridis

Abstract

In order to understand the gene information, function, haloduric pathway (glycerolipid metabolism) and related key genes for Dunaliella viridis, we used Illumina HiSeqTM 2000 high-throughput sequencing technology to sequence its transcriptome. Trinity soft was used to assemble the data to form transcripts. Based on the Clusters of Orthologous Groups (COG), Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG ) databases, we carried out functional annotation and classification, pathway annotation, and the opening reading fragment (ORF) sequence prediction of transcripts. The key genes in the glycerolipid metabolism were analyzed. The results suggested that 81,593 transcripts were found, and 77,117 ORF sequences were predicted, accounting for 94.50% of all transcripts. COG classification results showed that 16,569 transcripts were assigned to 24 categories. GO classification annotated 76,436 transcripts. The number of transcripts for biologcial processes was 30,678, accounting for 40.14% of all transcripts. KEGG pathway analysis showed that 26,428 transcripts were annotated to 317 pathways, and 131 pathways were related to metabolism, accounting for 41.32% of all annotated pathways. Only one transcript was annotated as coding the key enzyme dihydroxyacetone kinase involved in the glycerolipid pathway. This enzyme could be related to glycerol biosynthesis under salt stress. This study further improved the gene information and laid the foundation of metabolic pathway research for Dunaliella viridis.