Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the peptidome of a red tide forming species Noctiluca scintillans based on mass-spectrometry (MS) analysis. N. scintillans cells were collected at the initiation and peak phase of its bloom. Peptides were extracted by ultrafiltration with cutoff of 10 and 3 kDa in acidic condition. Optimal mass spectra were generated after purification with C18 column. MS analysis and peptide identification was undertaken by Linear Trap Quadropole (LTQ) Velos MS/MS instrument. Using this method, 239 and 332 peptide sequences from the samples collected at the initiation and peak phase of N. scintillans bloom were identified, respectively. These sequences were classified and they were affiliated to 68 and 93 groups of precursor proteins respectively at the initiation and peak phase, with a compositional dissimilarity of 49.5%. Meanwhile, majority of the peptides were conjectured to come from contents digested by N. scintillans. Thirty three groups of precursor proteins were detected at both phases. These peptides involved in various intracellular physiological activities, most of them responsible for functions of digestion activities such as oxidoreductase activity, catalytic activity, hydrolase activity and cofactor/ion binding. The composition of precursors proteins, and molecular weight, functions and cell compartment of the obtained peptides were quite different between two bloom stages. This is the first attempt to study peptidomics of N. scintillans, which provide important information on the functional studies of peptidomics in N. scintillans, especially food digestion and dietary protein utilization, as well as their relationship with bloom development.

Highlights

  • Noctiluca scintillans is a large heterotrophic dinoflagellate (∼200–2,000 μm in diameter) that causes red tides in coastal regions worldwide (Elbrächter and Qi, 1998; Harrison et al, 2011)

  • We developed a peptidomic strategy for studying peptidome in N. scintillans at the initiation and peak phases of its bloom

  • Distinct peptidomic profiles of N. scintillans from different bloom phases were detected, suggesting that our method is suitable for extraction, identification and comparison of peptides in N. scintillans or other marine heterotrophic planktons during different bloom stages

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Summary

Introduction

Noctiluca scintillans is a large heterotrophic dinoflagellate (∼200–2,000 μm in diameter) that causes red tides in coastal regions worldwide (Elbrächter and Qi, 1998; Harrison et al, 2011). The red N. scintillans is purely phagotrophic and highly omnivorous It can feed on phytoplankton, protozoan and even the egg, larvae and adults of metazoan zooplankton (Elbrächter and Qi, 1998; Umani et al, 2004; Harrison et al, 2011; Zhang et al, 2017a). Phytoplankton are considered the main food items for N. scintillans in the field (Kiørboe and Titelman, 1998; Harrison et al, 2011; Zhang et al, 2017a). N. scintillans can survive without food for a period exceeding 3 weeks (Kiørboe and Titelman, 1998)

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