Impact of Melittin on Microalgae Cell Wall: A Monolayer Study

Abstract

The cell wall of microalgae presents a formidable barrier necessary for survival in aquatic environments. Unfortunately, this barrier affects certain processes of interest in algal biotechnology such as oil extraction. Thus, assessing the impact of lytic peptides or enzymes on algal cell wall degradation is a critical first step to utilizing algal biomass more efficiently. Galactolipids are the main structural component of plant chloroplastic membranes and blue-green algae cell membranes. The predominant lipids in this class are monogalactosyl-diacylglycerol (MGDG) and digalactosyl-diacylglycerol (DGDG). Here using de Langmuir monolayer technique, we have demonstrated that melittin, a lytic peptide, has an intrinsic propensity to interact and perturb interfacial monolayers made of MGDG or DGDG that mimic microalgae cell wall.

Neochloris oleoabundans cell wall rupture through melittin peptide: a new approach to increase lipid recovery

“…Cell density was adjusted at 0.35 optical density 750 nm (OD750) in a spectrophotometer UV-VIS (Bio-Rad SmartSpec 3,000). The algal suspension was then transferred into 1.5-mL Eppendorf tubes placed in thermomixer R (Eppendorf) and treated with 10 µg/mL of melittin peptide (Vargas-Perez et al, 2018). N. oleoabundans cells were incubated at 32°C and stirred at 1,400 rpm for 30 min.…”