Comparison of the gene expression profile of a Pseudo-nitzschia arenysensis wild-type strain versus a silenced strain for the lipoxygenase gene PaLOX.

Diatoms are microalgae that live in marine and freshwater environments and are responsible for about 20% of the world carbon fixation. The population dynamics of these cells are finely regulated by an intricate signal transduction system, in which oxylipins play a relevant role. These are oxygenated fatty acids whose biosynthesis is initiated by a lipoxygenase enzyme (LOX) action and are widely distributed in all the phyla, including diatoms. We performed a functional study investigating the mechanisms of action of the oxylipins in diatoms, the knowledge of which was hitherto limited to their structure and biosynthesis. We altered the synthesis of these metabolites through the knock-down of the LOX gene in the planktonic diatom Pseudo-nitzschia arenysensis, and, here, we present the transcriptomic profile of a silenced clone compared to that of the parental wild type. Moreover, we used these RNAseq to get two de novo transcriptome assemblies, exploitable for comparative omics-driven surveys.