Abstract
Under the present changing climate conditions and the observed temperature increase, it is of high importance to understand its effects on aquatic microbial life, and organisms’ adaptations at the biochemical level. To adjust to temperature or salinity stress and avoid cell damage, organisms alter their degree of fatty acids (FAs) saturation. Thus, temperature is expected to have strong effects on both the quantity and quality of FAs in aquatic microorganisms. Here we review some recent findings about FAs sensitivity to climate change in contrasting environments. Overall, heat waves may induce changes in the relative abundance of polyunsaturated FAs (PUFA). However, the impact of the exposure to warming waters is different in temperate and polar environments. In cold marine waters, high concentration of omega-3 (ω3) FAs such as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) is promoted due to the activation of the desaturase enzyme. In this way, cells have enough energy to produce or activate antioxidant protection mechanisms and avoid oxidative stress due to heat waves. Contrastingly, under high irradiance and heat wave conditions in temperate environments, photosystems’ protection is achieved by decreasing EPA concentration due to desaturase sensitivity. Essential FAs are transferred in aquatic food webs. Therefore, any alteration in the production of essential FAs by phytoplankton (the main source of ω3) due to climate warming can be transferred to higher trophic levels, with cascading effects for the entire aquatic ecosystem.
Highlights
Increasing fossil fuel emissions during the past decades have increased atmospheric CO2 concentrations and lead to a rise of global average temperatures (Myhre et al, 2015; Abhilash, 2015)
The aim of this review is to compare the microalgae and cyanobacteria response from cold vs. temperate and tropical waters, to heat waves in relation to climate change and summarize the mechanisms of action leading to the observed fatty acids (FAs) changes
Hernando et al (2018) described the predominance of polyunsaturated FAs (PUFA) (44–64% in average) over saturated FAs (SFA) for Antarctic coastal phytoplankton at the beginning of microcosm experiments to evaluate the effects of increased temperature and decreased salinity on physiology (Table 1, Fig. 2)
Summary
Fatty acids in microalgae and cyanobacteria in a changing world: Contrasting temperate and cold environments. SCHLOSS3,4,5,*; FLORENCIA DE LA ROSA6,7; MARLEEN DE TROCH8
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