Diatoms are photoautotrophic eukaryotes, which contribute to approximately 40% of global phytoplankton primary production in the oceans. Over the past decades, development of multi-omics methodologies (such as genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics) enhanced diatoms use in the blue biotechnology field.
Recent studies showed that various microalgae, including the pennate diatom Cylindrotheca closterium, might have compounds with anti-inflammatory properties but the chemical entities responsible for this activity are unknown. This thesis aims to analyse the transcriptome of C. closterium, looking for transcripts putatively involved in the synthesis of anti-inflammatory compounds, secondary metabolite production and/or coding enzymes with possible biotechnological applications. Silica starvation experiment was carried out to activate the broadest possible range of metabolic pathways of interest. RNA Sequencing was performed for C. closterium cultivated in both control and silica starvation and expression levels for the genes of interest were analysed in both conditions. The results indicate that genes which are part of the synthesis of anti-inflammatory compounds are activated when C. closterium is grown in control medium whereas they are down-regulated under silica starvation. This is the first study to investigate potential genes involved in the synthesis of anti-inflammatory metabolites in diatoms.
