A marine phytoplankton Prymnesium parvum upregulates the component proteins of photosystem II under iron stress

Abstract

Iron is an essential limiting factor for primary production in many marine systems. The present study investigated differential regulation of protein expression in marine phytoplankton Prymnesium parvum under low Fe concentration. The phytoplankton was grown in f/2 culture medium in artificial seawater with low (0.0025 μM) and high (0.05 μM) Fe concentrations. Two-dimensional differential gel electrophoresis and matrix-assisted laser desorption-ionization-time of flight-mass spectrometer analysis were performed for protein identification and characterization. The growth of the alga declined substantially under the low Fe compared to the high Fe concentration. Under low Fe conditions, P. parvum upregulated 10 proteins including chloroplastic ATP synthase subunit b, D2 protein of PSII, D1 protein of PSII reaction centre, and light harvesting complex II protein, most of which are associated with photosynthetic activities in PSII. The results suggest that the marine alga P. parvum altered the biosynthesis of several photosynthetic proteins in order to cope with low Fe conditions.