Introduction Erythromycin poses significant ecological risks to marine ecosystem due to its persistence and lipophilic properties. However, the response mechanism of marine microalgae to erythromycin remains inadequately understood. Methods Phaeodactylum tricornutum was exposed to 0–40 mg/L erythromycin; growth, photosynthetic pigments, and oxidative stress markers were measured. Nile red staining, lipidomics, and transcriptomics were used to analyze lipid remodeling and metabolic pathway changes. Results High-dose erythromycin exposure concentration-dependently inhibited algal growth, disrupted photosynthetic pigments, and induced oxidative stress. Notably, erythromycin triggered a pronounced lipid redistribution, characterized by altered glycerolipid and glycerophospholipid profiles, increased lipid accumulation, and enhanced unsaturated fatty acid profile. Transcriptomic analyses confirmed that ERY-induced lipidome remodeling affected critical pathways to provide precursors and reducing power degradation for fatty acid synthesis, and the pathway of fatty acid degradation. Conclusion These findings elucidate the intrinsic mechanistic link between antibiotic-induced lipid dysregulation and the physiological resilience of diatoms, providing novel insights into the molecular toxicology of antibiotics in primary producers.
Zhang et al. (Mon,) studied this question.