De Novo Transcriptome of the Flagellate Isochrysis galbana Identifies Genes Involved in the Metabolism of Antiproliferative Metabolites

Simple Summary Microalgae are a huge renewable and eco-friendly source of natural compounds, including vitamins, carbohydrates, pigments, sterols and lipids. They have found applications in different industrial sectors, including the pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and cosmeceutical fields. Isochrysis galbana, a marine flagellate belonging to the Haptophyta phylum, thanks to its nutraceutical composition has been proposed as a shellfish diet (Shellfish Diet 1800 (R)) as well as in the composition of cookies, fresh pasta and yogurt. I. galbana powder, extracts or pure molecules have shown interesting bioactivities, such as antioxidant, antidiabetes and antituberculosis, while the antiproliferative activity is mainly related to lung lymphoblasts. In the current study, we aimed to identify metabolic pathways activated in stressful conditions (stationary growth phase) by transcriptomic and bioactivity-guided fractionation. Overall, the results showed antiproliferative activities against melanoma cells, suggesting new possible applications in cancer prevention and treatment. Haptophytes are important primary producers in the oceans, and among the phylum Haptophyta, the flagellate Isochrysis galbana has been found to be rich in high-value compounds, such as lipids, carotenoids and highly branched polysaccharides. In the present work, I. galbana was cultured and collected at both stationary and exponential growth phases. A transcriptomic approach was used to analyze the possible activation of metabolic pathways responsible for bioactive compound synthesis at the gene level. Differential expression analysis of samples collected at the exponential versus stationary growth phase allowed the identification of genes involved in the glycerophospholipid metabolic process, the sterol biosynthetic process, ADP-ribose diphosphatase activity and others. I. galbana raw extracts and fractions were tested on specific human cancer cells for possible antiproliferative activity. The most active fractions, without affecting normal cells, were fractions enriched in nucleosides (fraction B) and triglycerides (fraction E) for algae collected in the exponential growth phase and fraction E for stationary phase samples. Overall, transcriptomic and bioactivity data confirmed the activation of metabolic pathways involved in the synthesis of bioactive compounds giving new insights on possible Isochrysis applications in the anticancer sector.