Tisochrysis lutea is a microalga species currently used in aquaculture as a feed for shellfish, oysters and shrimps. It also has many other potential industrial applications, such as the production of neutral lipids for biofuels or the production of ω-3 fatty acids for nutraceuticals (human food complements). To efficiently exploit the potential of this microalga, however, higher lipid productivities are needed. To this end, improvement programs need to be developed and optimized. The diversity of strains available in microalgae has not yet been exploited in such improvement programs.

In this study, the intra-strain diversity was observed and exploited to increase neutral lipid productivity. New clonal strains with higher neutral lipid productivity were successfully selected. The best clonal strain selected accumulated 520% more triacylglycerols, with a similar growth rate to the wild-type strain in continuous light and nitrogen starvation conditions. In a photoperiod culture condition, this clonal stain also accumulated 84% more storage lipids and 30% less carbohydrates, compared to the wild-type strain. This clonal strain thus had a higher productivity which is of great interest for feed or biofuel applications.

This study also focused on identifying the genomic mechanisms responsible for the improvements in these clonal strains. With this objective, the genome of Tisochrysis lutea was sequenced for the first time. It is the third genome of a Haptophyte microalga sequenced so far. Different genetic polymorphisms were identified between the sequenced genomes of the wild-type strain and clonal strains. Activity of transposable elements seems to have been involved in the genome reshuffling obtained through the improvement program. The contribution of transposable elements to the adaptive capacity of microalgae remains to be demonstrated.