Project description:The study of macroalgae capacity to acclimate and recover in environments contaminated with Cu and Cd could prove a promising way to understand the tolerance mechanisms of these seaweeds against different pollutants. This study used as a model organism Gracilaria tenuistipitata (Rhodophyta), a macroalga with economic and ecological importance. The partial transcriptome of G. tenuistipitata was profiled using cDNA microarrays in the sixth day of exposition to EC50 metals. Genes involved in Cu and Cd chronic stress belonging to various functional categories suffered shallow modifications. This possibly indicates that G. tenuistipitata would be in the acclimatization process. In addition, the expression of nine stress genes accompanied by analysis of the photosynthetic rate of seaweed to both metals in three different time frames was analyzed. Genetic variation linked to the mechanism of resistance of the algae, determined from EC50 culture conditions established for two metals, occurred in the early hours of treatment. It was found that G. tenuistipitata was able to accumulate these two metals and to resist and acclimate to the negative effects produced by these elements. The temporal analysis from the nine specific genes showed some specific transcriptional responses of the G. tenuistipitata, exposed to Cu and Cd.
