Abstract
Phosphorus (P) is an essential macronutrient for the survival of marine phytoplankton. In the present study, phytoplankton response to phosphorus limitation was studied by proteomic profiling in diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum in both cellular and molecular levels. A total of 42 non-redundant proteins were identified, among which 8 proteins were found to be upregulated and 34 proteins were downregulated. The results also showed that the proteins associated with inorganic phosphate uptake were downregulated, whereas the proteins involved in organic phosphorus uptake such as alkaline phosphatase were upregulated. The proteins involved in metabolic responses such as protein degradation, lipid accumulation and photorespiration were upregulated whereas energy metabolism, photosynthesis, amino acid and nucleic acid metabolism tend to be downregulated. Overall our results showed the changes in protein levels of P. tricornutum during phosphorus stress. This study preludes for understanding the role of phosphorous in marine biogeochemical cycles and phytoplankton response to phosphorous scarcity in ocean. It also provides insight into the succession of phytoplankton community, providing scientific basis for elucidating the mechanism of algal blooms.
Highlights
IntroductionNutrient limitation has been found to have different effects on cell growth rate, size, pigment composition, density and lipid content in microalgae[19,20,21,22,23]
Phytoplankton is one of the most important producers in marine food chain
Protein-level changes in P. tricornutum in response to –P depletion and control cultures were analyzed by 2-D electrophoresis (2-DE)
Summary
Nutrient limitation has been found to have different effects on cell growth rate, size, pigment composition, density and lipid content in microalgae[19,20,21,22,23]. As it is a photosynthetic organism, marine diatoms provide a large amount of organic food to marine organisms[24]. Considering inadequate data available on P uptake mechanisms and its response to P starvation, this study was designed to study the metabolic network shifts of diatom under P limitation (–P) and to reveal any new adaptive the alternative metabolic pathways adapted by diatoms during –P depletion. Proteomic analysis was used to evaluate the changes at protein level in order to further understand the molecular mechanism behind –P stress in P. tricornutum
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