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Abstract
Effects of nutrient‐imbalanced diet on the growth and fitness of zooplankton were widely reported as key issues to aquatic ecology. However, little is known about the molecular mechanisms driving the physiological changes of zooplankton under nutrient stress.In this study, we investigated the physiological fitness and transcriptomic response of Daphnia magna when exposed to nitrogen (N)‐limited or phosphorus (P)‐limited algal diet (Chlamydomonas reinhardtii) compared to regular algae (N and P saturated).D. magna showed higher ingestion rates and overexpression of genes encoding digestive enzymes when fed with either N‐limited or P‐limited algae, reflecting the compensatory feeding. Under P‐limitation, both growth rate and reproduction rate of D. magna were greatly reduced, which could be attributed to the downregulated genes within the pathways of cell cycle and DNA replication. Growth rate of D. magna under N‐limitation was similar to normal group, which could be explained by the high methylation level (by degradation of methionine) supporting the body development.Phenotypic changes of D. magna under nutrient stress were explained by gene and pathway regulations from transcriptome data. Generally, D. magna invested more on growth under N‐limitation but kept maintenance (e.g., cell structure and defense to external stress) in priority under P‐limitation. Post‐translational modifications (e.g., methylation and protein folding) were important for D. magna to deal with nutrient constrains.This study reveals the fundamental mechanisms of zooplankton in dealing with elemental imbalanced diet and sheds light on the transfer of energy and nutrient in aquatic ecosystems.
Highlights
Effects of nutrient-imbalanced diet on the growth and fitness of zooplankton were widely reported
This study reveals the fundamental mechanisms of zooplankton in dealing with elemental imbalanced diet and shed light on the transfer of energy and nutrient in aquatic ecosystems
P-limitation had a significant effect on the growth rate of D. magna while this effect was weak for D. magna under N-limitation (Table S3, Fig. S1)
Summary
Effects of nutrient-imbalanced diet on the growth and fitness of zooplankton were widely reported. Ecological stoichiometry, a branch of ecology that considers how the balance of energy and elements influences the living systems [1], has been widely studied in both land and aquatic systems where stoichiometric imbalances between predator and prey can affect trophic interactions and ecosystem functions. The performances (e.g. ingestion, growth and reproduction rates) of zooplankton in response to low-quality diet, which have consequences for both phytoplankton and zooplankton population dynamics and energy flow, is important to the understanding of ecological stoichiometry in aquatic systems. Previous transcriptomic studies have well explained the effects of N-limited or P-limited diet on the phenotypic performance of bacteria, phytoplankton, land plants and vertebrates [6, 7], whereas little is known about the transcriptomic response of zooplankton to nutrient constrains and their trade-off strategy (among growth, reproduction and other activities)
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