Effects of Piperonyl Butoxide on the Accumulation of Lipid and the Transcript Levels of DtMFPα in Dunaliella tertiolecta .

As one of the sources of biodiesel, microalgae are expected to solve petroleum shortage. In this study, different concentrations of piperonyl butoxide were added to the culture medium to investigate their effects on the growth, pigment content, lipid accumulation, and content of carotenoids in . The results showed that piperonyl butoxide addition significantly decreased the biomass, chlorophyll content, and total carotenoid content but hugely increased the lipid accumulation. With the treatment of 150 ppm piperonyl butoxide combined with 8000 Lux light intensity, the final lipid accumulation and single-cell lipid content were further increased by 21.79 and 76.42% compared to those of the control, respectively. The lipid accumulation in is probably related to the increased expression of in under the action of piperonyl butoxide. The phylogenetic trees of and other oil-rich plants were constructed by multiple sequence alignment of , demonstrating their evolutionary relationship, and the tertiary structure of was predicted. In conclusion, piperonyl butoxide has a significant effect on lipid accumulation in , which provides valuable insights into chemical inducers to enhance biodiesel production in microalgae to solve the problem of diesel shortage.