Chlorella growing under different conditions can adapt its biochemical composition and its fatty acid profile, but the alterations in polar lipids remain poorly explored. In this study, the polar lipidome of Chlorella vulgaris grown under autotrophic (C-Auto) and heterotrophic (C-Hetero) conditions were characterized using hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography–electrospray ionization mass spectrometry and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. A total of 173 and 167 lipid species were identified in autotrophic and heterotrophic cultures, respectively, distributed by lyso and phosphatidylcholine, lyso and phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylinositol, sulfoquinovosyldiacylglycerol, di- and monogalactosyldiacylglycerol, di- and monogalactosylmonoacylglycerol, ceramide, and inositolphosphoceramide lipid classes. C-Hetero had a higher abundance of low unsaturated species, while C-Auto had a high abundance of highly unsaturated glycolipids and lyso species. The fatty acids profile showed a high content of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in C-Auto and in omega-6 fatty acids in C-Hetero. The two lipid extracts showed high antioxidant activity and inhibitory capacity for cyclooxygenase-2. This study provides evidence of polar lipid plasticity of microalgae useful for tuning cultivation for biotechnology applications.

在不同条件下生长的小球藻可以适应其生化组成和脂肪酸分布，但是极性脂质的变化仍然很少被探索。在这项研究中，小球藻的极性脂质组使用亲水相互作用液相色谱-电喷雾电离质谱和气相色谱-质谱法对在自养（C-Auto）和异养（C-Hetero）条件下生长的植物进行了表征。在自养和异养培养物中分别鉴定出173种和167种脂类，分别由溶菌和磷脂酰胆碱，溶血和磷脂酰乙醇胺，磷脂酰甘油，磷脂酰肌醇，磺基喹硫酰基二酰基甘油甘油，二和单半乳糖基二酰基甘油甘油，二和单半乳糖基二酰基甘油甘油， 。C-Hetero具有较高的低不饱和物种丰富度，而C-Auto具有较高的高度不饱和糖脂和溶菌物种丰富度。脂肪酸谱显示，C-Auto中的omega-3多不饱和脂肪酸含量很高，而C-Hetero中的omega-6脂肪酸含量很高。两种脂质提取物显示出高的抗氧化活性和对环氧合酶2的抑制能力。这项研究提供了微藻的极性脂质可塑性的证据，可用于调节生物技术应用中的培养。