Abstract
Pyrocystis lunula (Schutt) is a photoautotrophic dinoflagellate without armored form, frequently found in marine environments. Today, there are several biotechnological applications derived from the bioluminescent system of this species. From a post-genomic perspective, in order to have a starting point for studying the proteome of P. lunula, an “omics” approach (transcriptomics-proteomics) was assessed using fresh microalgae samples. A total of 80,874,825 raw reads were generated (11,292,087,505 bp; 55.82% GC) by mRNA sequencing. Very high-quality sequences were assembled into 414,295 contigs (219,203,407 bp; 55.38% GC) using Trinity software, generating a comprehensive reference transcriptome for this species. Then, a P. lunula proteome was inferred and further employed for its analysis on this species. A total of 17,461 peptides were identified, yielding 3182 protein identification hits, including 175 novel proteins. The identified proteins were further categorized according to functional description and gene ontology classification. SignificanceThe major contribution of the present work is making available a reference transcriptome and proteome of P. lunula, that is now accessible for the research community, and a functional description of the 3182 proteins inferred from the transcriptome, including 175 novel proteins, which have already been deposited in the ProteomeXchange and NCBI SRA databases, respectively. In addition to this, a series of important factors related to the bioluminescent system and the regulation of gene expression, were identified and described.
Highlights
Pyrocystis lunula (Schutt) is a photoautotrophic dinoflagellate without armored, frequently found in marine environments
Proteomic results represent a valuable piece in the understanding of this microalgae regulation at molecular level, and shed light on the identification of important factors involved in gene expression regulation
The major contribution of the present work is making available a reference transcriptome and proteome of P. lunula, that is accessible for the research community, and a functional description of the 3,182 proteins identified by proteomics and transcriptomic, including 175 novel proteins, which have already been deposited in the ProteomeXchange and NCBI SRA databases, respectively
Summary
Pyrocystis lunula (Schutt) is a photoautotrophic dinoflagellate without armored, frequently found in marine environments. ]. Morphologically, Pyrocystis is particular among the Dinophyceae as it spends a considerable part of its life cycle as a non-mobile cell within a cellulose-covered shell [ ]. Pyrocystis is particular among the Dinophyceae as it spends a considerable part of its life cycle as a non-mobile cell within a cellulose-covered shell [ ] In this genus, Pyrocystis lunula (Schutt) is an important species because there are several biotechnological applications derived from its bioluminescent system. Thebioluminescence of P. lunula can be quantified by spectrophotometry as the normal bioluminescent output declining with increasing concentrations of aqueous toxicants Examples of these current applications are the Lumitox and the QwikLiteTM 200bioassays, two portable test kits designed to measure toxicity of pollutants in marine environments. A bioassay to assess potential instances of groundwater contamination linked with natural gas extraction and unconventional drilling activity, has been developed. [
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