Systems biology and biotechnology in microalgae
Mercedes García-González, Inmaculada Couso and Francisco J. Romero-CamperoHuman world population is increasing drastically generating unprecedented needs for energy and food. The massive exploitation of fossil fuels to satisfy this energy demand is producing a high accumulation of CO2 in the atmosphere and the subsequent climate change. This is affecting crop yield and reducing land area suitable for agriculture, ultimately, increasing malnutrition and its associated human diseases. In the current climate emergency scenario with energy and food shortage, microalgae cultivation represents an opportunity as promising sources of sustainable biofuels, agricultural biostimulants, animal feed and human nutrients contributing to the removal of the accumulating CO2. Nonetheless, the molecular mechanisms controlling the biosynthesis of compounds of biotechnological interest remain mostly uncharacterized in microalgae, hindering development of their full potential as cell-factories that could contribute substantially to solve these challenges. In our group we follow molecular systems biology multidisciplinary approaches combining omics technologies with High Performance Computing and mathematical methods to develop predictive models characterizing the molecular mechanisms controlling the functioning and physiology of microalgae to promote their biotechnological applications. We follow an evolutionary methodology in the characterization of these mechanisms extending our studies to the green lineage or viridiplantae focusing specifically in the terrestralization event during plant evolution. We are also interested in deciphering the molecular mechanisms of cell signaling in unicellular microalgae and the response to light a nitrogen availability in order to have a complete picture of their self-regulatory mechanisms to cope with stress conditions and adaptation to the changing environments.
Our model organisms are Ostreococcus tauri, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, Klebsormidium nitens, Marchantia polymorpha and Arabidopsis thaliana. Also, we have studied lab scale conditions of microalgae of industrial interest such as Haematococcus lacustris, Chromocloris zofingiensis, Raphidocelis subcapitata and crops such as Triticum aestivium and Solanum lycopersicum. In this sense, our group has long experience collaborating and working with companies in the development of new algal-based technologies and products.
Our scientific objectives are:
- To unveil the molecular mechanisms controlling the physiology and biosynthesis of compounds of interest in microalgae by integrating multi-omics data.
- To determine the role of inositol polyphosphates as regulators of CO2 assimilation in microalgae and their implication in the generation of 4th generation biofuels.
- To evaluate the mode of action of microalgae derivatives in the biostimulation of plants of agronomic interest.
Name | Surname | Category | Phones | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Christina | Arvanitidou | Predoctoral Researcher | ext. 446053 | |
Rodrigo | Bedera García | Predoctoral Researcher | ext. 446053 | |
Inmaculada | Couso Liáñez | CSIC Tenured Scientist | ext. 446008 | |
Mercedes | García González | US Tenured Professor | ext. 446020 | |
Miguel | García Guerrero | Honorary US Research Fellow | ext. 446008 | |
Mª Elena | García Gómez | Laboratory Technician | ext. 446053 | |
Marcos | Ramos González | Predoctoral Researcher | ext. 446053 | |
Francisco José | Romero Campero | US Full Professor | ext. 446008 | |
Emma | Serrano Pérez | Predoctoral Researcher | ext. 446053 |
- Arvanitidou C, Ramos-González M, Romero-Losada AB, García-Gómez ME, García-González M, Romero-Campero FJ. Transcriptomic characterization of the response to a microalga extract in Arabidopsis thaliana and Solanum lycopersicum. J Scien Food Agricult. 2024, 0022-5142/1097-0010 doi: 10.1002/jsfa.13422
- Morales-Pineda M, García-Gómez E, Bedera-García R, García-González M, Couso I. CO2 levels modulate carbon utilization, energy levels and inositol polyphosphate profile in Chlorella. Plants. 2023; 12 (1): 129-129. doi:10.3390/plants12010129
- Yin X, Romero-Campero FJ, Yang M, Baile F, Cao Y, Shu J, Luo L, Wang D, Sun S, Yan P, Gong Z, Mo X, Qin G, Calonje M, Zhou Y. Binding by the Polycomb complex component BMI1 and H2A monoubiquitination shape local and long-range interactions in the Arabidopsis genome. Plant Cell. 2023 35:2484-2503. doi: 10.1093/plcell/koad112.
- Serrano-Pérez E, Romero-Losada AB, Morales-Pineda M, García-Gómez ME, Couso I, García-González M, Romero-Campero FJ. Transcriptomic and metabolomic response to high light in the charophyte alga Klebsormidium nitens. Frontiers in Plant Science. 2022. 13:855243. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2022.855243
- Romero-Losada AB, Arvanitidou C, de los Reyes P, García-González M, Romero-Campero FJ. ALGAEFUN with MARACAS, microALGAE FUNctional enrichment tool for MicroAlgae RnA-seq and Chip-seq AnaliysiS. BMC Bioinformatics. 2022, 23(1): 113. doi 10.1186/s12859-022-04639-5
- Fernández Rodríguez MJ, de la Lama Calvente D, García-González M, Moreno-Fernández J, Jiménez-Rodríguez, A, Borja R, Rincón-Lorente B. Integral Valorization of Two-Phase Olive Mill Solid Waste (OMSW) and Related Washing Waters by Anaerobic Co-digestion of OMSW and the Microalga Raphidocelis subcapitata Cultivated in These Effluents. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 2022. 70:3219-3227. doi: 10.1021/acs.jafc.1c08100
- Hoys C, Romero-Losada AB, Del Río-Sánchez ME, Guerrero MG, Romero-Campero FJ, García-González, M. Unveiling the underlying molecular basis of astaxanthin accumulation in Haematococcus through integrative metabolomic-transcriptomic analysis. Bioresource Technol. 2021. 332: 1-11. doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2021.125150
- Yin X, Romero-Campero FJ, de Los Reyes P, Yan P, Yang J, Tian G, Yang X, Mo X, Zhao S, Calonje M, Zhou Y. H2AK121ub in Arabidopsis associates with a less accessible chromatin state at transcriptional regulation hotspots. Nat Commun. 2021. 12:315. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-20614-1
- Werth EG, McConnel E, Gilbert TK, Couso-Liáñez I, Umen J. Probing the global kinome and phosphoproteome in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii via sequential enrichment and quantitative proteomics. The Plant Journal. 2017. doi: 10.1111/tpj.13384
- Couso-Liáñez I, Evans B, Li Jia, Liu Yu, Allen DK, et. al.: Synergism between inositol polyphosphates and TOR kinase signaling in nutrient sensing, growth control and lipid metabolism in Chlamydomonas. The Plant Cell. 2016. 10. ¿1105/¿tpc.¿16.¿00351 doi: 10.1111/tpj.13384