Characterization of the sphingolipid profiling of Emiliania huxleyi against virus infection

Lipidomics approach by UPLC-Q-Exactive-MS was used for the identification,quantification,comparison,and characterization of sphingolipids in virus infected marine Emiliania huxleyi BOF92 cells.The results show that 16 significantly changed sphingolipids(including Cer,CerG1,and SPHm)were identified during viral infection.Our data confirmed previously recognized facts that viral infection led to a shift toward virus-specific sphingolipids,which is consistent with the down-regulation of genes involved in the host de novo sphingolipid biosynthesis.Moreover,we revealed the upregulation of virusencoded homologous genes participating in de novo sphingolipids biosynthesis and virus-specific hydroxylated long chain bases(LCBs)as phytoCer,suggesting the competitive inhibition of host sphingolipid synthesis to produce the required building blocks for viral production,replication,and assembly.Additionally,Cer 40꞉1;2,Cer 40꞉2;2 isomer,and CerG139꞉0;2,Cer 39꞉0;2 as novel metabolite markers might indicate the general dysfunctions in E.huxleyi in response to viral infection.Our results show that viral infection led to a profound remodeling of host sphingolipidome,by which viruses depend on the hijacking of host sphingolipid metabolism to support the viral life cycle.