Project description:Crustose coralline algae (CCA) are calcifying red macroalgae that play important ecological roles including stabilisation of reef frameworks and provision of settlement cues for a range of marine invertebrates. Previous research into the responses of CCA to ocean warming (OW) and ocean acidification (OA) have found magnitude of effect to be species-specific. Response to OW and OA could be linked to divergent underlying molecular processes across species. Here we show Sporolithon durum, a species that exhibits low sensitivity to climate stressors, had little change in metabolic performance and did not significantly alter the expression of any genes when exposed to temperature and pH perturbations. In contrast, Porolithon onkodes, a major coral reef builder, reduced photosynthetic rates and had a labile transcriptomic response with over 400 significantly differentially expressed genes, with differential regulation of genes relating to physiological processes such as carbon acquisition and metabolism. The differential gene expression detected in P. onkodes implicates possible key metabolic pathways, including the pentose phosphate pathway, in the stress response of this species. We suggest S. durum is more resistant to OW and OA than P. onkodes, which demonstrated a high sensitivity to climate stressors and may have limited ability for acclimatisation. Understanding changes in gene expression in relation to physiological processes of CCA could help us understand and predict how different species will respond to, and persist in, future ocean conditions predicted for 2100.
Project description:Nitrogen starvation is an efficient environmental pressure used to increase lipid accumulation and oil droplet formation in microalgal cells. Various studies focused on metabolic changes occurring in microalgae in nitrogen starvation conditions, but the mechanisms at the basis of these changes are not completely understood. Between microalgae, green algae, with more than 7000 species growing in a variety of habitats, have been frequently studied for energy purposes, but also as source of bioactive extracts/compounds. In this study, de novo transcriptome of the green algae Tetraselmis suecica has been performed in order to (1) deeply study its response to nitrogen starvation, (2) to look for enzymes with antioxidant capacity and for polyketide synthases (PKSs), (3) if present, to evaluate if nutrient starvation can influence their expression levels.
Project description:Shewanella spp. possess a broad respiratory versatility, which contributes to the occupation of hypoxic/anoxic environmental or host-associated niches. Here we observed a strain-specific induction of biofilm formation in response to supplementation with the anaerobic electron acceptors dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and nitrate in a panel of Shewanella algae isolates. The respiration-driven biofilm response is not observed in DMSO and nitrate reductase deletion mutants of the type strain S. algae CECT 5071, and can be restored upon complementation with the corresponding reductase operon(s) but not by an operon containing a catalytically inactive nitrate reductase. The distinct transcriptional changes, proportional to the effect of these compounds on biofilm formation, include cyclic di-GMP (c-di-GMP) turnover genes. In support, ectopic expression of the c-di-GMP phosphodiesterase YhjH of Salmonella Typhimurium but not its catalytically inactive variant decreased biofilm formation. The respiration-dependent biofilm response of S. algae may permit differential colonization of environmental or host niches.
Project description:To assess the diurnal gene expression in gills of oyster Crassotrea gigas, gills of 6 oysters were pooled and analyzed by RNa-seq every 4h for 52h (i.e. 13 sampling times). This procedure was executed simultaneously for control oysters fed with the non-harmful algae Heterocapsa triquetra (H.t condition), and for oysters fed with the harmful algae Alexandrium minutum (A.m condition) (L:D 9:15). Alexandrium minutum exposure led to a remodeling of the cycling transcriptome in gills of Crassostrea gigas.