Journal Article

Aromatic Amino Acids: Exploring Microalgae as a Potential Biofactory

Niraula, Archana, Merindol, Natacha, Meddeb-Mouelhi, Fatma, Desgagné-Penix, Isabel, Danesh, Amir

2025

Overview

In recent times, microalgae have emerged as powerful hosts for biotechnological applications, ranging from the production of lipids and specialized metabolites (SMs) of pharmaceutical interest to biofuels, nutraceutical supplements, and more. SM synthesis through bioengineered pathways relies on the availability of aromatic amino acids (AAAs) as an essential precursor. AAAs, phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophan are also the building blocks of proteins, maintaining the structural and functional integrity of cells. Hence, they are crucial intermediates linking the primary and specialized metabolism. The biosynthesis pathway of AAAs in microbes and plants has been studied for decades, but not much is known about microalgae. The allosteric control present in this pathway has been targeted for metabolic engineering in microbes. This review focuses on the biosynthesis of AAAs in eukaryotic microalgae and engineering techniques for enhanced production. All the putative genes involved in AAA pathways in the model microalgae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and Phaeodactylum tricornutum are listed in this review.

• Publisher: MDPI AG
• Subject: Algae / Allosteric properties / Amino acids / Aquatic microorganisms / Biofuels / Biosynthesis / Carbohydrates / Carbon / Chlamydomonas reinhardtii / Chloroplasts / chorismate mutase / Defense mechanisms / Flowers & plants / Functional foods & nutraceuticals / Genes / Genetic engineering / Genomes / Intermediates / Lipid metabolism / Metabolic engineering / Metabolism / Metabolites / Microorganisms / Phaeodactylum tricornutum / Physiology / Plankton / Polyunsaturated fatty acids / Proteins / shikimate pathway / Signal transduction / Structure-function relationships / Tryptophan