TOR (target of rapamycin) is a key regulator of triacylglycerol accumulation in microalgae. (3rd March 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Imamura, Sousuke; Kawase, Yasuko; Kobayashi, Ikki; Shimojima, Mie; Ohta, Hiroyuki; Tanaka, Kan
• Is Part Of: Plant signaling & behavior. Volume 11:Number 3(2016)
• Publication Date: 2016-03-03
• Subjects: AZD8055 -- Chlamydomonas reinhardtii -- Cyanidioschyzon merolae -- lipid droplet -- microalga -- target of rapamycin -- Torin1 -- TOR inhibitor -- triacylglycerol; Plant ecophysiology -- Periodicals; Plant cellular signal transduction -- Periodicals; Plant cellular signal transduction; Plant ecophysiology; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 581
• DOI: 10.1080/15592324.2016.1149285
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1559-2316

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Most microalgae abundantly accumulate lipid droplets (LDs) containing triacylglycerols (TAGs) under several stress conditions, but the underlying molecular mechanism of this accumulation remains unclear. In a recent study, we found that inhibition of TOR (target of rapamycin), a highly conserved protein kinase of eukaryotes, by rapamycin resulted in TAG accumulation in microalgae, indicating that TOR negatively regulates TAG accumulation. Here, we show that formation of intracellular LDs and TAG accumulation were also induced in the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii after exposure to Torin1 or AZD8055, which are novel TOR inhibitors that inhibit TOR activity in a manner different from rapamycin. These results supported quite well our previous conclusion that TOR is a central regulator of TAG accumulation in microalgae.