Fleagrass, a herb known for its pleasant aroma, is widely used as a mosquito repellent, antibacterial agent, and for treating colds, reducing swelling, and alleviating pain. The antifungal effects of the essential oils of fleagrass and carvacrol against Candida albicans were investigated by evaluating the growth and the mycelial and biofilm development of C. albicans. Transmission electron microscopy was used to evaluate the integrity of the cell membrane and cell wall of C. albicans. Fleagrass exhibited high fungicidal activity against C. albicans at concentrations of 0.5% v/v (via the Ras1/cAMP/PKA pathway). Furthermore, transmission electron microscopy revealed damage to the cell wall and membrane after treatment with the essential oil, which was further confirmed by the increased levels of β-1,3-glucan and chitin in the cell wall. This study showed that fleagrass exerts good fungicidal and hyphal growth inhibition activity against C. albicans by disrupting its cell wall, and thus, fleagrass may be a potential antifungal drug.
The oleaginous marine microalga Nannochloropsis oceanica strain IMET1 has attracted increasing attention as a promising
photosynthetic cell factory due to its unique excellent capacity to accumulate large amounts of triacylglycerols and eicosapentaenoic
acid. To complete the genomic annotation for genes in the fatty acid biosynthesis pathway of N. oceanica, we
conducted the present study to identify a novel candidate gene encoding the archetypical chloroplast stromal acyl-acyl carrier
protein Δ9 desaturase. The full-length cDNA was generated using rapid-amplification of cDNA ends, and the structure of
the coding region interrupted by four introns was determined. The RT-qPCR results demonstrated the upregulated transcriptional
abundance of this gene under nitrogen starvation condition. Fluorescence localization studies using EGFP-fused
protein revealed that the translated protein was localized in chloroplast stroma. The catalytic activity of the translated protein
was characterized by inducible expression in Escherichia coli and a mutant yeast strain BY4389, indicating its potential
desaturated capacity for palmitoyl-ACP (C16:0-ACP) and stearoyl-ACP (C18:0-ACP). Further functional complementation
assay using BY4839 on plate demonstrated that the expressed enzyme restored the biosynthesis of oleic acid. These results
support the desaturated activity of the expressed protein in chloroplast stroma to fulfill the biosynthesis and accumulation
of monounsaturated fatty acids in N. oceanica strain IMET1.
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Function Characterization and Transcription Analysis of Two Δ9 Fatty Acid Desaturases from Isochrysis zhanjiangensis Under Different Conditions Xinyue Lu, Lin Zhang, Jichang Han, Jiaojiao Tian, Yumeng Wang, Jiansen Luo, Lingzhi Ye, Suping Hua, Zhen Huang, Jilin Xu Journal of Ocean University of China.2025; 24(3): 763. CrossRef