Luxury phosphorus uptake in microalgae

• Published in: Journal of applied phycology Vol. 31; no. 5; pp. 2755 - 2770
• Main Authors: Solovchenko, Alexei E., Ismagulova, Tatiana T., Lukyanov, Alexandr A., Vasilieva, Svetlana G., Konyukhov, Ivan V., Pogosyan, Sergei I., Lobakova, Elena S., Gorelova, Olga A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.10.2019; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Algae; Algal blooms; Biofertilizers; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biosynthesis; Biotechnology; Cultivation; Ecology; energy; Eutrophication; Fertilizers; Freshwater & Marine Ecology; Gene expression; Genetic control; image analysis; Imaging techniques; Life Sciences; Metabolism; Microalgae; Microscopy; Mineral nutrients; Molecular modelling; Nutrients; Phosphorus; Phytoplankton; Plant Physiology; Plant Sciences; recycling; Uptake; Wastewater; Biofertilizer; Phosphorus; Polyphosphate; Luxury uptake
• ISSN: 0921-8971; 1573-5176
• DOI: 10.1007/s10811-019-01831-8

Phosphorus (P) is central to storing and exchange of energy and information in cells including those of microalgae. The overwhelming majority of microalgae are naturally acclimated to low-P environments; hence, they are capable of taking up and storing P in large amounts whenever it becomes available. The ability to take up more P than necessary for immediate growth is termed “luxury uptake.” Understanding this phenomenon constitutes a crucial insight into nutrient-driven processes in natural algal communities such as harmful algal blooms, as well as into the operation of algae-based technologies for sustainable usage of P such as recycling of the nutrient from wastewater to biofertilizers. The bulk of P acquired during luxury uptake is stored in the form of inorganic polyphosphate, the compound with nearly ubiquitous presence and multifaceted function in the cell. Although seminal works on luxury P uptake and polyphosphate metabolism were carried out fifty years ago, application of modern “omics” approaches and advanced imaging microscopy techniques enabled obtaining a deeper mechanistic insight into these processes. Nevertheless, our knowledge about luxury P uptake remains much more limited in comparison with that about P shortage and mechanism tolerance to this stress in microalgae. In this review the knowledge of luxury P uptake originating from classical phycological and biochemical methods is confronted with the recently obtained understanding of molecular mechanisms of P transport to the cell, polyphosphate biosynthesis, regulation, and genetic control of these processes. Biotechnological implications of the knowledge about luxury P uptake accumulated to date are discussed in the context of algae-based approaches to sustained usage of nutrients and industrial cultivation of microalgae.