Crude Oil Contamination Enhances the Lipoxygenase Gene Expression in the Green Microalga Scenedesmus dimorphu

Abstract

Crude oil is a mixture of hydrocarbons, which are mainly toxic to living organisms. Over recent years it has become clear that algae may play a substantial role in the biodegradation of the crude oil harmful hydrocarbons by their dioxygenase system. The present study was conducted to evaluate alterations in the expression levels of lipoxygenase gene (lox) in Scenedesmus dimorphus after exposure to crude oil. The extraction of total RNA was performed by RNX plus reagent. After cDNA synthesis, a qRT-PCR analysis was performed to determine the expression level of the lox gene. The acquired data were analyzed by SPSS Statistics. Based on the obtained results, crude oil treatments (0.02 and 1%) led to a relatively high expression level of lox compared to control conditions. Moreover, incubation time significantly affected the relative expression of this gene in both oil-treated and non-treated algae. The outcomes of this research indicated that S. dimorphus has a high potential for the enhancement of enzymatic activity under crude oil treatment through increased lox expression.