Euglena gracilis de novo transcriptome assembly

The phytoflagellated protozoan, Euglena gracilis, is a Euglenoid, one of the most primitive eukaryotic groups, and has been proposed as an attractive feedstock for the accumulation of valuable compounds such as ß-1,3-glucan, also known as paramylon, and wax esters. The production of wax esters proceeds under anaerobic conditions, designated as wax ester fermentation. In spite of the importance and usefulness of Euglena, genomic and transcriptome data is currently not available. We herein performed an RNA-Seq analysis in order to provide a comprehensive sequence resource and some insights into the regulation of genes including wax eater metabolism by comparative transcriptome analysis of E.gracilis under aerobic and anaerobic conditions.

植鞭毛原生动物纤细裸藻（Euglena gracilis）隶属于眼虫类（Euglenoid），是最原始的真核生物类群之一，现已被视为可用于积累β-1,3-葡聚糖（又称副淀粉粒，paramylon）与蜡酯等高价值化合物的极具应用潜力的原料生物。蜡酯的合成过程发生于厌氧条件下，该过程被命名为蜡酯发酵。尽管裸藻具备重要的研究与应用价值，但目前尚未公开其基因组与转录组相关数据。为此，本研究开展了RNA测序（RNA-Seq）分析，通过对有氧与厌氧条件下纤细裸藻的比较转录组分析，旨在构建全面的序列资源，并为包括蜡酯代谢在内的相关基因的调控机制提供新的见解。