Physiological-Biochemical Characteristics and Omics Landscape of Drought Tolerance in Chlorella sp. from the Taklamakan Desert of China.
- 1College of Life Sciences, Shihezi University, Shihezi 832000, China.
- 2Key Laboratory of Oasis Town and Mountain-Basin System Ecology, Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, Shihezi 832000, China.
Abstract
Microalgae endemic to desert ecosystems possess exceptional stress-resistance traits; however, the physiological and molecular drought-adaptation mechanisms of desert-dwelling Chlorella remain largely uncharacterized. Herein, we combined physiological-biochemical assays, ultrastructural observation, transcriptomics and metabolomics to dissect drought responses in Taklamakan-desert-origin Chlorella sp. under polyethylene glycol 6000 (PEG-6000)-simulated mild (10%), moderate (20%), and severe (30%) drought stress, with mechanistic focus on moderate-drought conditions. Moderate drought repressed algal biomass (-26.32%), chlorophyll a (-24.40%), maximum photosystem II quantum yield (Fv/Fm, -16.55%) and effective quantum yield of photosystem II (ΦPSII, -24.35%). Malondialdehyde (MDA) accumulated (+50.69%), alongside elevated activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD, +156.74%) and catalase (CAT, +11.61%). Compatible solutes, including proline, soluble sugars, total protein and total lipid, increased significantly by 39.00%, 39.36%, 26.35% and 23.06%, respectively (p < 0.05). Moderate drought triggered cell swelling, partial cell-wall rupture and prominent enlargement of intracellular starch granules and lipid droplets. Transcriptomic profiling demonstrated up-regulation of transcription-translation and DNA-repair machinery, ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters, abscisic acid (ABA)/jasmonic acid (JA) signaling, and biosynthetic pathways for protective metabolites, whereas catabolic pathways and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling were suppressed. Untargeted metabolomics further validated accumulation of trehalose, stress-protective amino acids, vitamins and functional lipids, while chloroplast-membrane-related metabolites and catabolic intermediates declined. This multi-omics study systematically reveals physiological and molecular regulatory cascades underlying drought tolerance in desert Chlorella sp., providing candidate genes and metabolites to support microalgal resource exploitation for arid-zone applications.
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BibTeX
@article{han2026physiologicalbiochemical,
title = {{Physiological-Biochemical Characteristics and Omics Landscape of Drought Tolerance in Chlorella sp. from the Taklamakan Desert of China.}},
author = {Kai Han and Yongshun Zhou and Ruyue Tan and Kaile Fan and Mingliang Ding and Junyan Li and Jianqiao Wu and Jianfeng Gao and Fulong Chen},
journal = {International journal of molecular sciences},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.3390/ijms27198439},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42883689},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Physiological-Biochemical Characteristics and Omics Landscape of Drought Tolerance in Chlorella sp. from the Taklamakan Desert of China.
AU - Kai Han
AU - Yongshun Zhou
AU - Ruyue Tan
AU - Kaile Fan
AU - Mingliang Ding
AU - Junyan Li
AU - Jianqiao Wu
AU - Jianfeng Gao
AU - Fulong Chen
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/22
JO - International journal of molecular sciences
DO - 10.3390/ijms27198439
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42883689
AB - Microalgae endemic to desert ecosystems possess exceptional stress-resistance traits; however, the physiological and molecular drought-adaptation mechanisms of desert-dwelling Chlorella remain largely uncharacterized. Herein, we combined physiological-biochemical assays, ultrastructural observation, transcriptomics and metabolomics to dissect drought responses in Taklamakan-desert-origin Chlorella sp. under polyethylene glycol 6000 (PEG-6000)-simulated mild (10%), moderate (20%), and severe (30%) drought stress, with mechanistic focus on moderate-drought conditions. Moderate drought repressed algal biomass (-26.32%), chlorophyll a (-24.40%), maximum photosystem II quantum yield (Fv/Fm, -16.55%) and effective quantum yield of photosystem II (ΦPSII, -24.35%). Malondialdehyde (MDA) accumulated (+50.69%), alongside elevated activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD, +156.74%) and catalase (CAT, +11.61%). Compatible solutes, including proline, soluble sugars, total protein and total lipid, increased significantly by 39.00%, 39.36%, 26.35% and 23.06%, respectively (p < 0.05). Moderate drought triggered cell swelling, partial cell-wall rupture and prominent enlargement of intracellular starch granules and lipid droplets. Transcriptomic profiling demonstrated up-regulation of transcription-translation and DNA-repair machinery, ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters, abscisic acid (ABA)/jasmonic acid (JA) signaling, and biosynthetic pathways for protective metabolites, whereas catabolic pathways and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling were suppressed. Untargeted metabolomics further validated accumulation of trehalose, stress-protective amino acids, vitamins and functional lipids, while chloroplast-membrane-related metabolites and catabolic intermediates declined. This multi-omics study systematically reveals physiological and molecular regulatory cascades underlying drought tolerance in desert Chlorella sp., providing candidate genes and metabolites to support microalgal resource exploitation for arid-zone applications.
SN - 1422-0067
ER -