Algae sense exact temperatures: small heat shock proteins are expressed at the survival threshold temperature in Cyanidioschyzon merolae and Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.

ABSTRACT: The primitive red alga Cyanidioschyzon merolae inhabits acidic hot springs and shows robust resistance to heat shock treatments up to 63 °C. Microarray analysis was performed to identify the key genes underlying the high temperature tolerance of this organism. Among the upregulated genes that were identified, we focused on two small heat shock proteins (sHSPs) that belong to a unique class of HSP families. These two genes are located side by side in an inverted repeat orientation on the same chromosome and share a promoter. These two genes were simultaneously and rapidly upregulated in response to heat shock treatment (>1,000-fold more than the control). Interestingly, upregulation appeared to be triggered not by a difference in temperatures, but rather by the absolute temperature. Similar

SUBMITTER: Kobayashi Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4224343 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature