The Scenedesmus obliquus strain UTEX 393 genome assembly was constructed by merging multiple assemblies that originated from three independent Illumina assemblies (NCBI GCA_900108755.1; an unpublished dataset provided by D.R. Nelson from New York University Abu Dhabi; JGI CSP Proposal Id: 503423) and one PacBio assembly (Reads from JGI CSP Proposal Id: 503423). Merging of the assemblies was performed by Dr. Zaid McKie-Krisberg at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York. The gene models were predicted and annotated by the Joint Genome Institute (JGI) Annotation Pipeline.
Scenedesmus obliquus UTEX 393
The coccoid green alga Scenedesmus obliquus (Turpin) Kützing belongs to the class of the Chlorophyceae and the order of the Sphaeropleales. As the name of the genus Scenedesmus recently changed several times, this species is often synonymously referred to as Acutodesmus obliquus (Turpin) Hegewald and Hanagata, with the currently accepted name as Tetradesmus obliquus (Turpin) M.J.Wynne [NCBI Taxonomy].
This species is ubiquitous in freshwater environments. Mostly cells are ovate and have pointy ends, but no spines are found in this species. Depending on the growth conditions, the cell morphology can vary. One can find single cells, coenobia of two cells, or coenobia made up of four cells.
Strains of S. obliquus can be cultivated easily in the laboratory. Strain D-3 was an early model organism used in various studies on photosynthesis and in investigations leading to the discovery of the Calvin-Benson-Bassham cycle. In 1953, strain D-3 was deposited in the UTEX Collection and accessioned as UTEX 393.
S. obliquus is considered to be oleaginous because the cells make oil bodies under environmental stress conditions, leading to the re-emergence of this species as a model in the context of algal biofuels. The strain UTEX 393 was successfully cultivated in bioreactors and in outdoor ponds, thus appearing to be a potential feedstock strain for future biofuels applications.