UPLC-MS analysis of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and Scenedesmus obliquus lipid extracts and their possible metabolic roles

Abstract

The paper presents the ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) and high-resolution mass spectrometric analysis and comparison of total lipid profiles of two green algal species, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and Scenedesmus (Acutodesmus) obliquus. The targeted UPLC-mass spectroscopy (MS) analysis revealed that both the green algae showed the presence of almost similar types of lipids. However, there were differences in the presence of three triacylglycerol (TAG) species (TAG 54:4, TAG 54:5 and TAG 54:8) and two diacylglycerol (DAG) species (DAG 36:3 and DAG 36:4) in C. reinhardtii that were found to be completely absent in Scenedesmus obliquus. The triacylglycerol content in S. obliquus was five times more than that in C. reinhardtii. In addition, amount of diacylglycerol-O-(N,N,N-trimethyl) homoserine, a characteristic algal lipid, in S. obliquus was only half of that in C. reinhardtii. The paper also discusses the metabolic roles of the lipids produced by these algal species with reference to the lipids identified by UPLC-MS analysis.