Auxenochlorella protothecoides sp 0710 Transcriptome or Gene expression

Chlorella protothecoides (Trebouxiophyceae, Chlorophyta) is a genus of single-cell green algae, which was first described by Krüger in 1894. Now, it is highly regarded as one of the potential microalgae for biofuel production due to its ability to accumulate large quantity of lipids within the cell. C. protothecoides is a 2-10 mm in diameter, coccoid and free-living green alga. It contains multiple mitochondria, a single cup-shaped chloroplast, rigid cell wall and no flagella. Unlike most autotrophic green algae, C. protothecoides can not only live autotrophically by fixing sun's energy through photosynthesis, but also can utilize organic components directly from environment for a heterotrophic growth. Compared with autotrophic cells, the intracellular structure and composition have undergone great changes in the heterotrophic cells. The most attractive phenomenon is the degradation of chloroplast and the accumulation of the oil bodies. The heterotrophic cells are more suitable for biodiesel production due to the increase in both biomass yield (51.2 g/L) and oil content (55.2%). Thus, C. protothecoides can serve as a model to study the mechanism of high oil accumulation and find ways to further reduce the cost of biodiesel