Characterization and engineering of a dual-function diacylglycerol acyltransferase in the oleaginous marine diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum

BACKGROUND: Photosynthetic oleaginous microalgae are promising feedstocks for biofuels. Acyl-CoA:diacylglycerol acyltransferases (DGATs) represent rich sources for engineering microalgal lipid production. The principal activity of DGATs has been defined as a single-function enzyme catalyzing the esterification of diacylglycerol with acyl-CoA. RESULTS: A dual-function PtWS/DGAT associated with diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum is discovered in the current study. Distinctive to documented microalgal DGAT types, PtWS/DGAT exhibits activities of both a wax ester synthase (WS) and a DGAT. WS/DGATs are broadly distributed in microalgae, with different topology and phylogeny from those of DGAT1s, DGAT2s, and DGAT3s. In vitro and in vivo assays revealed that PtWS/DGAT, functioning as either a WS or a DGAT, exhibited a preference on saturated FA substrate. Endogenous overexpression of PtWS/DGAT demonstrated that the DGAT activity was dominant, whereas the WS activity was condition dependent and relatively minor. Compared with the wild type (WT), overexpression of PtWS/DGAT in the diatom resulted in increased levels of total lipids (TL) and triacylglycerol (TAG) regardless of nitrogen availability. The stability and scalability of the introduced traits were further investigated at a 10-L photobioreactor, where the mutant growth resembled WT, with moderately increased productivity of TL and TAG. Furthermore, the production of wax esters increased considerably (from undetectable levels to 2.83%) under nitrogen-deplete conditions. CONCLUSIONS: PtWS/DGAT is a bifunctional enzyme and may serve as a promising target for the engineering of microalga-based oils and waxes for future industrial use. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s13068-018-1029-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.