Exploring the Chemical Space of Macro- and Micro-Algae Using Comparative Metabolomics

With more than 156,000 described species, eukaryotic algae (both macro- and micro-algae) are a rich source of biological diversity, however their chemical diversity remains largely unexplored. Specialised metabolites with promising activities have been widely reported for seaweeds, recently extracts from microalgae exhibited activity in anticancer, antimicrobial, antioxidant screens. However, we still missing critical information on the distinction profiles between microalgae, as well space these cover. This study has used an untargeted comparative metabolomics approach to explore seven seaweeds 36 microalgal strains. A total 1390 liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) features were detected, representing small organic algal metabolites, no overlap microalgae. An in-depth analysis four Dunaliella tertiolecta strains shows that environmental factors may play larger role phylogeny when classifying metabolomic profiles.