Identifying metabolic pathways for production of extracellular polymeric substances by the diatom Fragilariopsis cylindrus inhabiting sea ice.

ABSTRACT: Diatoms are significant primary producers in sea ice, an ephemeral habitat with steep vertical gradients of temperature and salinity characterizing the ice matrix environment. To cope with the variable and challenging conditions, sea ice diatoms produce polysaccharide-rich extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) that play important roles in adhesion, cell protection, ligand binding and as organic carbon sources. Significant differences in EPS concentrations and chemical composition corresponding to temperature and salinity gradients were present in sea ice from the Weddell Sea and Eastern Antarctic regions of the Southern Ocean. To reconstruct the first metabolic pathway for EPS production in diatoms, we exposed Fragilariopsis cylindrus, a key bi-polar diatom species, to simulated sea ice

SUBMITTER: Aslam SN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5932028 | biostudies-literature | 2018 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature