Comparative metatranscriptomics identifies molecular bases for the physiological responses of phytoplankton to varying iron availability.

ABSTRACT: In vast expanses of the oceans, growth of large phytoplankton such as diatoms is limited by iron availability. Diatoms respond almost immediately to the delivery of iron and rapidly compose the majority of phytoplankton biomass. The molecular bases underlying the subsistence of diatoms in iron-poor waters and the plankton community dynamics that follow iron resupply remain largely unknown. Here we use comparative metatranscriptomics to identify changes in gene expression associated with iron-stimulated growth of diatoms and other eukaryotic plankton. A microcosm iron-enrichment experiment using mixed-layer waters from the northeastern Pacific Ocean resulted in increased proportions of diatom transcripts and reduced proportions of transcripts from most other taxa within 98 h after iron addi

SUBMITTER: Marchetti A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3277525 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature