ABSTRACT
With a world growing in population and nutritional
needs, diatoms are considered nowadays as microalgae of a very important
potential, thus they are exploited in several fields such as ecology,
aquaculture, molecular farming, and pharma nutraceuticals. These coveted
microalgae are characterized by their diversity, their high division rates,
their complex life cycle, likewise their silicified cell walls named frustules.
Thus, diatoms have been used for over a century after proving an efficient
production of several molecules including Triacylglycerols (TAGs), H2,
free fatty acids, vitamins, nutraceuticals, amino acids, proteins, terpenoids,
alcohols and carbohydrates like starch,
glycogen, and sucrose. Phaeodactylum tricornutum is the most promising diatom exploited to date, especially as a platform of
pharmaceutical production. Herein, we expose diatoms’ main features that
allowed using them for molecular farming.
This review exposes likewise, the metabolism and the post-translational modifications
(PTMs) of diatoms as well as current tools and challenges for their molecular
and metabolic engineering for a more
efficient production of valuable molecules. The knowledge on the biology of the
diatoms, the molecular tools, and the various transformation methods available
demonstrate the potential in biotechnology of these photosynthetic
microorganisms. The widely studied P. tricornutum,
as a model organism, is a promising diatom for production
of valuable metabolites, despite the challenges and issues related to
cultivation.