Concern about global warming has prompted an intense interest in developing economical methods of producing
biofuels. Microalgae provide a promising platform for
biofuel production, because they accumulate high levels of
lipids, and do not compete with food or feed sources. However, current methods of producing algal oil involve subjecting the microalgae to stress conditions, such as
nitrogen deprivation, and are prohibitively expensive. Here, we report that the fungicide
fenpropimorph rapidly causes high levels of neutral
lipids to accumulate in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii cells. When treated with
fenpropimorph (10 μg mL(-1)) for 1 h, Chlamydomonas cells accumulated at least fourfold the amount of
triacylglycerols (TAGs) present in the untreated control cells. Furthermore, the quantity of TAGs present after 1 h of
fenpropimorph treatment was over twofold higher than that formed after 9 days of
nitrogen starvation in medium with no
acetate supplement. Biochemical analysis of
lipids revealed that the accumulated TAGs were derived mainly from chloroplast polar
membrane lipids. Such a conversion of chloroplast polar
lipids to TAGs is desirable for
biodiesel production, because polar
lipids are usually removed during the
biodiesel production process. Thus, our data exemplified that a cost and time effective method of producing TAGs is possible using
fenpropimorph or similar drugs.