Identification of candidate transcripts associated with marennine biosynthesis in Haslea ostrearia: investigating enzymes and metabolic pathways involved

The diatom Haslea ostrearia produces a blue-green pigment known as marennine, which exhibits remarkable antimicrobial, anti-viral, antiproliferative, allelopathic, and antioxidant properties. Despite the potential for marennine production, there is still a lack of understanding surrounding its chemical structure, biosynthetic pathway, genes, and enzymes. This study is the inaugural attempt to identify potential transcripts that may encode enzymes involved in marennine biosynthesis. Bioinformatics analysis comparing the transcriptomes of Haslea strains revealed transcripts coding for enzymes and proteins specific to blue H. ostrearia. Functional annotation and enrichment analysis provided insights into these transcripts’ role in marennine production. It was secondary metabolite biosynthesis (Q), signal transduction (T), transcription (K), post-translational modifications (O), extracellular structures (W), and defense mechanisms (V) that had the most significant amounts of COGs. Notably, eight transporters, one transcription factor, and 38 enzymes putatively related to marennine production were identified. These findings provide a promising avenue for further research into the genetic and molecular mechanisms underlying the biosynthesis of this pigment.