Supplementary data for: Naringenin-mediated metabolic reprogramming drives targeted triacylglycerol assembly in Chlorella vulgaris for sustainable bioenergy recovery
Description
This dataset contains the comprehensive supplementary figures and tables supporting the research article. Abstract of the associated study: The inherent trade-off between biomass accumulation and lipid biosynthesis in microalgae under nitrogen stress remains a major bottleneck for sustainable bioenergy production. In this study, we demonstrate that the exogenous addition of naringenin (2500 μM) effectively bypasses this metabolic constraint in Chlorella vulgaris under nitrogen deprivation. Naringenin treatment synergistically enhanced both growth performance and lipid productivity, leading to a remarkable 75.00% increase in total biomass and a striking 363.5% increase in triacylglycerol content without sacrificing biomass. Integrated targeted lipidomics and transcriptomics revealed a profound "transcriptional rewiring" orchestrating precision carbon compartmentalization. Specifically, naringenin triggered a decisive metabolic switch by nearly shutting down competing catabolic and shunting pathways, evidenced by the transcriptional silencing of phosphofructokinase and alanine/aspartate transaminase. Simultaneously, it aggressively redirected carbon flux from chloroplast membrane lipids and starch pools toward the cytosolic triacylglycerol assembly line. High-resolution regulatory mapping identified core transcription factors, such as squamosa promoter binding protein (SBP) and E2F-dimerization partner (E2F-DP), as master regulators that synchronize the up-regulation of rate-limiting enzymes, including ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RuBisCO), acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACCase), and diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT). These findings provide a molecular blueprint for precision carbon management in microalgae, highlighting naringenin-induced metabolic reprogramming as a powerful strategy to engineer superior oleaginous strains for high-density bioenergy recovery.