ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Biotechnology
Expression of the peanut diacylglycerol acyltransferase 3 increases the neutral lipid content and improves the fatty acid composition of Chlorella vulgaris
Provisionally accepted
Moran TopfAnna AndreevaHelen SaulTamar TenenvorzelLotem Davidi-ShwartsZehavit Dadon
Irina BerezinYael Kinel-TahanYaron Yehoshua
Orit Shaul*- Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
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Microalgae are a potential source of renewable biofuel with several advantages over conventional crops. Under stress conditions, oleaginous microalgae such as Chlorella vulgaris accumulate high levels of neutral lipids, mainly in the form of triacylglycerol (TAG), which can be converted into biodiesel. However, the growth under stress conditions limits biomass accumulation. DGAT enzymes catalyze the final step in TAG biosynthesis, by transferring a fatty acyl-CoA to diacylglycerol. We describe here the first case in which a higher plants DGAT3-type enzyme has been overexpressed in an oleaginous microalga. Higher plants DGAT3 enzymes differ in their properties from other types of DGAT enzymes and also from the distantly related group of enzymes nominated DGAT3 in algae. We overexpressed in C. vulgaris the DGAT3 of Arachis hypogaea (peanut), since this enzyme utilizes oleoyl-CoA as the preferred acyl donor. Oleic acid is a favorable fatty acid constituent of biofuel due to its low melting point and a relatively low vulnerability to oxidation. The sequence and regulatory regions of AhDGAT3 were optimized for supporting efficient expression. The transformed algal lines showed up to a five-fold increase in the content of neutral lipids. This increase occurred under normal growth conditions, which do not limit biomass accumulation. The transformed algae also showed a four-fold increase in the percentage of oleic acid and a 25% reduction in the percentage of linolenic acid among the lipid-derived fatty acids. Both changes are favorable for biodiesel utilization. This work demonstrates that higher plants DGAT3 enzymes, and particularly the peanut DGAT3, can be utilized for obtaining improved microalgal feedstocks for biofuel production.
Keywords: biofuel, Chlorella vulgaris, Diacylglycerol acyltransferase 3 (DGAT3), fatty acid, Lipid, Microalgae, triacylglycerol(TAG)
Received: 20 Nov 2025; Accepted: 14 Jan 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Topf, Andreeva, Saul, Tenenvorzel, Davidi-Shwarts, Dadon, Berezin, Kinel-Tahan, Yehoshua and Shaul. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Orit Shaul
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