Project description:a chromosome-level nuclear genome and organelle genomes of the alpine snow alga Chloromonas typhlos were sequenced and assembled by integrating short- and long-read sequencing and proteogenomic strategy
Project description:A powerful way to enhance heat tolerance is by establishing a stress memory through exposure to a heat stress that is strong enough to induce a molecular stress response without causing irreversible damage, followed by a recovery phase. While this has been extensively studied in multicellular organisms, we demonstrate that heat stress memory is also present in the unicellular red alga Cyanidioschyzon merolae. We show that, similarly to more complex organisms, thermomemory in this alga is underpinned by transcriptomic reprogramming, with the chloroplast emerging as the main site of gene trainability. Additionally, we find a conserved small heat shock protein (sHSP)-encoding locus in the nuclear genome to be heat-trainable, likely by histone depletion and modification through the repressive mark H3K27me3. We show that of C. merolae’s two sHSPs, only CmsHSP2 is necessary for proper HS memory establishment, and that the two sHSPs localize to different cellular compartments during heat stress. Finally, comparative RNA-Sequencing of an Enhancer of zeste mutant reveals a role for the H3K27me3-transferase in adapting the transcriptome to recurring heat exposures, beyond regulating the trainable sHSP locus.
Project description:The unicellular, free-living, nonphotosynthetic chlorophycean alga Polytomella parva, closely related to Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and Volvox carteri, contains colorless, starch-storing plastids. The P. parva plastids lack all light-dependent processes but maintain crucial metabolic pathways. The colorless alga also lacks a plastid genome, meaning no transcription or translation should occur inside the organelle. Here, using an algal fraction enriched in plastids as well as publicly available transcriptome data, we provide a proteomic characterization of the P. parva plastid, ultimately identifying several plastid proteins, both by mass spectrometry and bioinformatic analyses. Altogether these results led us to propose a plastid proteome for P. parva, i.e., a set of proteins that participate in carbohydrate metabolism; in the synthesis and degradation of starch, amino acids and lipids; in the biosynthesis of terpenoids and tetrapyrroles; in solute transport and protein translocation; and in redox homeostasis. This is the first detailed plastid proteome from a unicellular, free-living colorless alga.
Project description:Cell proliferation is a fundamental characteristic of organisms, driven by the holistic functions of multiple proteins encoded in the genome. However, the individual contributions of thousands of genes and the millions of protein molecules they express to cell proliferation are still not fully understood, even in simple eukaryotes. Here, we present proteome maps of cells during proliferation in the unicellular alga Cyanidioschyzon merolae, based on the sequencing of ribosome-protected messenger RNA (mRNA) fragments. Ribosome footprint profiling of genes encoded by nuclear, mitochondrial, and chloroplast DNAs has revealed qualitative and quantitative changes in mRNA transcription and protein translation within each gene during cell division. Comparisons of ribosome footprints from non-dividing and dividing cells allowed the identification of proteins involved in cell proliferation. Given that in vivo experiments on two selected candidate proteins identified a division-phase-specific mitochondrial nucleoid protein and a mitochondrial division protein, these results offer key insights into the comprehensive protein functions that facilitate cell and organelle division.
Project description:Cyanidioschyzon merolae is a thermophilic red alga with an optimum growth temperature of 42°C. In this study we investigated the acclimation process of the alga to a colder temperature (25°C). To this aim we performed quantitative proteomic analyses of whole cells as well as solubilized thylakoid protein complexes.
Project description:<p>This study investigates how the intertidal red alga Pyropia haitanensis (Bangiophyceae) achieves rapid desiccation-rehydration tolerance through coordinated interactions between the host, its associated microbiome, and key metabolites. By integrating 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing, metagenomics, and physiological assays across natural tidal cycles, the research reveals dynamic restructuring of the algal microbiome during dehydration and rehydration.</p>
Project description:Relatively little is known about the presence and regulation of pathways involved in nutrient acquisition in the brown tide forming alga, Aureococcus anophagefferens. In this study, Long-SAGE (Serial Analysis of Gene Expression) was used to profile the A. anophagefferens transcriptome under nutrient replete (control), and nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) deficiency with the goal of understanding how this organism responds at the transcriptional level to varying nutrient conditions. This approach has aided A. anophagefferens genome annotation efforts and identified a suite of genes up-regulated by N and P deficiency, some of which have known roles in nutrient metabolism. Genes up-regulated under N deficiency include an ammonium transporter, an acetamidase/formamidase, and two peptidases. This suggests an ability to utilize reduced N compounds and dissolved organic nitrogen, supporting the hypothesized importance of these N sources in A. anophagefferens bloom formation. There are also a broad suite of P-regulated genes, including an alkaline phosphatase, and two 5’-nucleotidases, suggesting A. anophagefferens may use dissolved organic phosphorus under low phosphate conditions. These N- and P-regulated genes may be important targets for exploring nutrient controls on bloom formation in field populations.
Project description:Klebsormidium nitens is an alga of the charophyte class considered to be a good model for studying the adaptation of plants to terrestrial life. Its genome has been completely sequenced and 16215 protein-coding genes have been predicted. This article presents the proteins identified by mass spectrometry in protein extracts from algae grown under standard conditions or after salt stress. A total of 1190 proteins were experimentally confirmed and 922 of them were classified according to their cellular location, molecular or biological function. Of these 922 proteins, 62 and 124 were found specifically in the control and salt-treated samples respectively. However, no specific function or location could not be assigned on the basis of the primary sequences. All the data are accessible and are of interest for phycologists as well as evolutionary plant biologists.