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The Role of Vitamin D in Emiliania huxleyi: A Microalgal Perspective on UV-B Exposure

ABSTRACT: An essential interaction between sunlight and eukaryotes involves the production of vitamin D through exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation. While extensively studied in vertebrates, the role of vitamin D in non-animal eukaryotes like microalgae remains unclear. To investigate the potential involvement of vitamin D in the response of microalgae to UV, we focus on Emiliania huxleyi, a microalga found in shallow ocean depths that are exposed to UV radiation. Our results show that E. huxleyi algae produce vitamin D2 and D3 in response to UV irradiation. We further demonstrate that E. huxleyi algae respond to external administration of vitamin D at the transcriptional level, regulating the expression of protective mechanisms that are also regulated in response to UV. Our data reveal that addition of vitamin D enhances the algal photosynthetic performance while reducing harmful reactive oxygen species buildup. This study contributes to understanding the function of vitamin D in E. huxleyi and sheds light on its role in non-animal eukaryotes, as well as its potential importance in marine ecosystems.

ORGANISM(S): Emiliania huxleyi

PROVIDER: GSE243677 | GEO | 2023/09/25

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Unicellular algae, termed phytoplankton, greatly impact the marine environment by serving as the basis of marine food webs and by playing central roles in biogeochemical cycling of elements. The interactions between phytoplankton and heterotrophic bacteria affect the fitness of both partners. It is becoming increasingly understood that metabolic exchange determines the nature of such interactions, but the underlying molecular mechanisms remain underexplored. Here, we investigated the molecular and metabolic basis for the bacterial lifestyle switch, from coexistence to pathogenicity, in Sulfitobacter D7 during interactions with Emiliania huxleyi, a cosmopolitan bloom-forming phytoplankter. The interaction displays two distinct phases: first, there is a coexisting phase in which the alga grows exponentially and the bacterium grows as well. The interaction shifts to pathogenic when the virulence of Sulfitobacter D7 towards E. huxleyi is invoked upon exposure to high concentrations of algal dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP), which occurs when the algae reach stationary growth or when DMSP is applied exogenously to algae in exponential growth. We aimed to unravel the response of Sulfitobacter D7 to the pathogenicity-inducing compound, DMSP, and to different algae-derived infochemicals that affect the lifestyle of the bacterium. We grew Sulfitobacter D7 in conditioned media (CM) derived from algal cultures at the different growth phases, exponential and stationary (Exp-CM and Stat-CM, respectively), in which DMSP concentration is low and high, respectively. This enabled us to separate between different phases of the interaction with E. huxleyi, i.e., Exp-CM representing the coexisting phase, and Stat-CM representing the pathogenic phase. An additional pathogenicity-inducing treatment was Exp-CM supplemented with 100 µM DMSP (herein Exp-CM+DMSP). This condition mimicked co-cultures to which we added DMSP exogenously and thus induced Sulfitobacter D7 pathogenicity, which lead to death of exponentially growing E. huxleyi. In order to identify bacterial genes that are specifically responsive to DMSP, and are not affected by other algae-derived factors, we grew Sulfitobacter D7 in defined minimal medium (MM), lacking algal metabolites, supplemented with 100 µM DMSP (herein MM+DMSP), and examined the transcriptional response. After 24 h of Sulfitobacter D7 growth in all 5 media, triplicates were taken for transcriptomic analysis. Altogether, this experimental design allowed to expand our understanding on the bacterial response to DMSP, algal infochemicals and which of these are essential for coexistence and pathogenicity.

Dataset Information

The Role of Vitamin D in Emiliania huxleyi: A Microalgal Perspective on UV-B Exposure

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