Major Research Achievements and Contributions

2. Development of lipid droplet induction and purification methods in algae for feasibility evaluation for biomass energy development and food biotechnology. 

    〖藉由促藻細胞油脂誘導及純化技術，用於生質發展及食品生物技術的應用〗

                The study of alternative energy such as biomass energy is important in current scientific development. Compared with various non-renewable energy, algae are considered to be potential candidate for biomass energy due to their tenacious vitality and rapid growth.  Our research investigated that unicellular Chlorella cultivated in limited nitrogen source accumulated large amounts of lipid droplets. Besides studying how to improve the lipid content in algae, we also analyzed the composition of fatty acids in different algae and found that large amounts of unsaturated fatty acids, especially omega-3, could be induced to accumulate in the lipid droplets of marine algae (dinoflagellates; symbiodinium) within short period. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA; omega-3) is a principal structural component of the central nervous system and retina, accounting for a high proportion in the brain and retina of infants, and is considered to play important roles in strengthening brains.  However, the source of these beneficial fatty acids are limited, and unsaturated fatty acids in the current market are mainly extracted from fish oil, which may contain heavy metals or other toxic substances such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), the consumption of these hazardous supplement could affect the health of pregnant women and young children. Current study suggested the marine Symbiodinium could be extensively cultivated indoors, and appropriate culture conditions could be introduced to induce these algae to synthesize and accumulate lipid droplets which are rich in unsaturated fatty oils, therefore, the desired unsaturated fatty acids can be purified using purification methods developed in the laboratory.  In this way, the DHA is produced in algae and also beneficial to human body and metal free. In addition, the cost and space required for the cultivation of algae are relatively low, thus, could replace fish oil for the production of high quality DHA.  Published in “Oceanologia”(2016) also published in“PLoS ONE; Biotechnology Letters and Marine Biotechnology”(2014), and“Plant Physiology and Biochemistry”(2012).

3. Study of the cause of coral bleaching by investigating the intracellular  symbiosis of coral and sea anemones.

  〖透過珊瑚白化進而了解珊瑚與海葵與共生藻行胞內共生的生理機轉〗

For most of marine organism, coral reefs provide the favorable habitat for food sources and reproduction. The preservation of coral reefs would ensure the development of fisheries, creating stable employment for fishermen, and a stable food supply, while the destruction of coral reefs would cause a serious threat to global biodiversity.  Recently, the major crisis of coral reef conservation is coastal reclamation and indiscriminate construction. Our research explored the effect of nutrient change in marine environment on the physiological and molecular biology of cnidarians such as coral and sea anemone. It was found that cell morphology and lipid composition of the internal symbiotic Symbiodinium of cnidarians did not change by short-term cultivated in nutrient deprived; however, if the environmental stress continued, by about a month later, the coral gradually bleaching and stress proteins (HSP70) were detected in its animal host cell, which is an important stress index in coral. This study was published on July 22, 2014 in the journal “Nature-Science Reports”, which is one of global leading publication under Nature Publishing Group.  From 2013 to 2015, our study determined that when algal cells were conducted symbiotic association with organisms such as corals and sea anemone, the external morphology and protein expression were significantly different with algal cells grown in culture media. The results showed that the algae expressed special proteins to maintain their intracellular symbiosis. The results of this study have been published in “Scientific Reports” (2015).

4. Identification of various plant lipid droplet proteins for development of “artificial oil bodies” with drug embedding.〖鑑定各種植物油體的主要蛋白質，尋找未來具有開發成包埋藥物的人造油體〗

      During the seed maturation, seeds store proteins, lipids, and starch in specific organelles such as protein bodies, lipid droplets, and starch grains. The lipid droplets act as the main source for seed germination and seedling growth. Presently, drug embedding technology has undergone diversified developments and in addition to the embedding rate and stability, it is fundamental whether the embedded drug can be effectively delivered to the target position. Our research used lipid droplet proteins to build a nano-scale recombinant artificial oil bodies. The lipid droplet is considered to be the only organelle whose surface is entirely covered by protein, and it can carry hydrophobic drugs due to its internal hydrophobic characteristics. The size of the lipid droplets formed by embedding can affect the cartable size of drug; thus, finding a suitable lipid droplet protein from seeds is an important research objective. We purified the lipid droplet from the primitive gymnosperm seeds, and successfully identified the oleosin, caleosin, and steroleosin proteins. The newly discovered proteins will be used to artificially construct a lipid droplets  and will be further examined for its feasibility to carry hydrophobic drugs. This study was published in “Plant Physiology Biochemistry” (2014; 2016).