The Proteome Profile of Halimeda macroloba under Elevated Temperature: A Case Study from Thailand

Abstract

An elevated sea temperature is considered a key abiotic stressor causing thermal stress to intertidal macroalgae and influencing their populations. Halimeda macroloba is an important CaCO3 producer that contributes to the carbonate budget in marine ecosystems. The population decline of this intertidal algal species could lead to considerable declines in both regional and global carbonate production. However, the impact of increasing temperature on the molecular mechanisms and protein profile of calcified H. macroloba is unclear and remains to be explored. In this study, H. macroloba was exposed to 30 °C and 35 °C for 7 days. The whole protein was then extracted using 0.5% SDS and digested using trypsin before an analysis using LC-MS. The protein profile of H. macroloba was characterized using the MaxQuant program aligned with the UniProt database. A total of 407 proteins were identified, and 12 proteins were found to be significantly upregulated or downregulated in response to the elevated temperature. Cell division protein, protein kinase domain-containing protein, phospholipid transport protein, and small ribosomal subunit protein were the significant proteins identified in our dataset. The proteins associated with cell division, cellular metabolic processes, localization, oxidoreductase activity, and biosynthetic process pathways were overexpressed with a more than 2-fold change at a high temperature. An interaction map generated using STITCH revealed that the significant protein change altered the other proteins related to abiotic stress, producing energy and inducing calcification. This information could be useful in understanding how H. macroloba responds to an elevated sea temperature.