Dark respiration (non-photorespiratory mitochondrial respiration), which occurs both in the light and in darkness, is vital for growth and survival of algae and plays a critical role in modulating the carbon balance...Dark respiration (non-photorespiratory mitochondrial respiration), which occurs both in the light and in darkness, is vital for growth and survival of algae and plays a critical role in modulating the carbon balance of them. In the present study, we have investigated dark respiration in the light (RL) and in darkness (RD) in three marine macroalgal species, Hizikia fusiformis (phaeophyta), Gracilaria lemaneiformis (Rhodophyta) and Ulva lactuca (Chlorophyta), cultured at 20 ℃ using aeration with two CO2 conditions: current ambient (CO2 concentration about 380 μl/L) and elevated CO2 (approximately 720 μl/L) air. RL was estimated by using the Kok method, whereas RD was determined as the rate of O2 influx at zero light. The results showed that both RL and RD were unchanged for the elevated CO2-grown algae relative to ambient CO2 concentration for all the algal species tested. However, RL was significantly lower than RD across all the algal species and growth CO2 treatments, demonstrating that daytime respiration was partly depressed by the light. The percentage of inhibition of respiration by light was similar between ambient and elevated CO2- grown algae. The ratio of respiration to photosynthesis, which tended to decrease when estimated using RL instead of RD, was not altered for the elevated relative to ambient CO2 concentration. The results suggest that RL, rather than RD, is a more accurate estimate of nonphotorespiratory carbon loss in marine macroalgae during the daytime. It would not be anticipated that elevated atmospheric CO2 would exert a substantial influence on respiratory flux either in the light or in darkness in these particular marine macroalgal species.展开更多
Intertidal marine macroalgae experience periodical exposures during low tide due to their zonational distribution. The duration of such emersion leads to different exposures of the plants to light and aerial CO2, whic...Intertidal marine macroalgae experience periodical exposures during low tide due to their zonational distribution. The duration of such emersion leads to different exposures of the plants to light and aerial CO2, which then affect the physiology of them to different extents. The ecophysiological responses to light and CO2 were investigated during emersion in two red algae Gloiopeltis furcata and Gigartina intermedia, and two brown algae Petalonia fascia and Sargassum hemiphyllum, growing along the Shantou coast of China. The light-saturated net photosynthesis in G. furcata and P. fascia showed an increase followed by slightly desiccation, whereas that in G. intermedia and S. hemiphyllumexhibited a continuous decrease with water loss. In addition, the upper-zonated G. furcata and P. fascia, exhibited higher photosynthetic tolerance to desiccation and required higher light level to saturate their photosynthesis than the lower-zonated G. intermedia and S. hemiphyllum. Desiccation had less effect on dark respiration in these four algae compared with photosynthesis. The light-saturated net photosynthesis increased with increased CO2 concentrations, being saturated at CO2 concentrations higher than the present atmospheric level in G. furcata, G. intermedia and S. hemiphyllum during emersion. It was evident that the relative enhancement of photosynthesis by elevated CO2 in those three algae increased, though the absolute values of photosynthetic enhancement owing to CO2 increase were reduced when the desiccation statuses became more severe. However, in the case of desiccated P. fascia (water loss being greater than 20 %), light saturated net photosynthesis was saturated with current ambient atmospheric CO2 level. It is proposed that increasing atmospheric CO2 will enhance the daily photosynthetic production in intertidal macroalgae by varied extents that were related to the species and zonation.展开更多
Most phaeophytes (brown algae) and rhodophytes (red algae) dwell exclusively in marine habitats and play important roles in marine ecology and biodiversity. Many of these brown and red algae are also important res...Most phaeophytes (brown algae) and rhodophytes (red algae) dwell exclusively in marine habitats and play important roles in marine ecology and biodiversity. Many of these brown and red algae are also important resources for industries such as food, medicine and materials due to their unique metabolisms and me-tabolites. However, many fundamental questions surrounding their origins, early diversification, taxonomy, and special metabolisms remain unsolved because of poor molecular bases in brown and red algal study. As part of the 1 000 Plant Project, the marine macroalgal transcriptomes of 19 Phaeophyceae species and 21 Rhodophyta species from China's coast were sequenced, covering a total of 2 phyla, 3 classes, 11 orders, and 19 families. An average of 2 Gb per sample and a total 87.3 Gb of RNA-seq raw data were generated. Approxi-mately 15 000 to 25 000 unigenes for each brown algal sample and 5 000 to 10 000 unigenes for each red algal sample were annotated and analyzed. The annotation results showed obvious differences in gene expres-sion and genome characteristics between red algae and brown algae;these differences could even be seen between multicellular and unicellular red algae. The results elucidate some fundamental questions about the phylogenetic taxonomy within phaeophytes and rhodophytes, and also reveal many novel metabolic pathways. These pathways include algal CO2 fixation and particular carbohydrate metabolisms, and related gene/gene family characteristics and evolution in brown and red algae. These findings build on known algal genetic information and significantly improve our understanding of algal biology, biodiversity, evolution, and potential utilization of these marine algae.展开更多
Global warming is predicted to strengthen marine plant-herbivore interactions. However, little is known about the effect of temperature on palatability and the associated chemical composition of marine macroalgae. To ...Global warming is predicted to strengthen marine plant-herbivore interactions. However, little is known about the effect of temperature on palatability and the associated chemical composition of marine macroalgae. To study the effects of physiological stress caused by the warm water temperatures and nutrient-poor conditions that occur during summer, we cultured the brown alga Sargassum yezoense at three different temperatures (16°C, 22°C, and 28°C) in both nutrient-enriched and non-enriched media. We then compared phlorotannin (i.e., defensive compounds) and nitrogen concentrations of S. yezoense as well as consumption rate by the sea urchin Hemicetrotus pulcherrimus among the treatment groups. No effect of culture temperature on phlorotannin and ni-trogen concentrations or consumption rate was detected. Nutrient enrichment resulted in decreased phlorotannin concentration and increased nitrogen concentration. Although nutrient enrichment did not affect consumption rate, a positive correlation between nitrogen concentration and consumption rate was detected. In contrast, there was no correlation between phlorotannin concentration and consumption rate. These results suggested that palatability of S. yezoense to H. pulcherrimus might not be affected by elevated temperature but that it could increase with nutrient enrichment.展开更多
基金The 973 Project under contract No. 2009CB421207the National Natural Science Foundation of China under contract Nos 41076094 and 30970450+1 种基金Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University under contract No. NCET-10-0375the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities,SCUT
文摘Dark respiration (non-photorespiratory mitochondrial respiration), which occurs both in the light and in darkness, is vital for growth and survival of algae and plays a critical role in modulating the carbon balance of them. In the present study, we have investigated dark respiration in the light (RL) and in darkness (RD) in three marine macroalgal species, Hizikia fusiformis (phaeophyta), Gracilaria lemaneiformis (Rhodophyta) and Ulva lactuca (Chlorophyta), cultured at 20 ℃ using aeration with two CO2 conditions: current ambient (CO2 concentration about 380 μl/L) and elevated CO2 (approximately 720 μl/L) air. RL was estimated by using the Kok method, whereas RD was determined as the rate of O2 influx at zero light. The results showed that both RL and RD were unchanged for the elevated CO2-grown algae relative to ambient CO2 concentration for all the algal species tested. However, RL was significantly lower than RD across all the algal species and growth CO2 treatments, demonstrating that daytime respiration was partly depressed by the light. The percentage of inhibition of respiration by light was similar between ambient and elevated CO2- grown algae. The ratio of respiration to photosynthesis, which tended to decrease when estimated using RL instead of RD, was not altered for the elevated relative to ambient CO2 concentration. The results suggest that RL, rather than RD, is a more accurate estimate of nonphotorespiratory carbon loss in marine macroalgae during the daytime. It would not be anticipated that elevated atmospheric CO2 would exert a substantial influence on respiratory flux either in the light or in darkness in these particular marine macroalgal species.
基金funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under contract Nos 30470343,30300050 and 39830060the Guangdong Natural Science Foundation under contract No.04010990.
文摘Intertidal marine macroalgae experience periodical exposures during low tide due to their zonational distribution. The duration of such emersion leads to different exposures of the plants to light and aerial CO2, which then affect the physiology of them to different extents. The ecophysiological responses to light and CO2 were investigated during emersion in two red algae Gloiopeltis furcata and Gigartina intermedia, and two brown algae Petalonia fascia and Sargassum hemiphyllum, growing along the Shantou coast of China. The light-saturated net photosynthesis in G. furcata and P. fascia showed an increase followed by slightly desiccation, whereas that in G. intermedia and S. hemiphyllumexhibited a continuous decrease with water loss. In addition, the upper-zonated G. furcata and P. fascia, exhibited higher photosynthetic tolerance to desiccation and required higher light level to saturate their photosynthesis than the lower-zonated G. intermedia and S. hemiphyllum. Desiccation had less effect on dark respiration in these four algae compared with photosynthesis. The light-saturated net photosynthesis increased with increased CO2 concentrations, being saturated at CO2 concentrations higher than the present atmospheric level in G. furcata, G. intermedia and S. hemiphyllum during emersion. It was evident that the relative enhancement of photosynthesis by elevated CO2 in those three algae increased, though the absolute values of photosynthetic enhancement owing to CO2 increase were reduced when the desiccation statuses became more severe. However, in the case of desiccated P. fascia (water loss being greater than 20 %), light saturated net photosynthesis was saturated with current ambient atmospheric CO2 level. It is proposed that increasing atmospheric CO2 will enhance the daily photosynthetic production in intertidal macroalgae by varied extents that were related to the species and zonation.
基金The National Natural Science Foundation of China under contract Nos 31140070,31271397 and 41206116the algal transcrip-tome sequencing was supported by 1KP Project(www.onekp.com)
文摘Most phaeophytes (brown algae) and rhodophytes (red algae) dwell exclusively in marine habitats and play important roles in marine ecology and biodiversity. Many of these brown and red algae are also important resources for industries such as food, medicine and materials due to their unique metabolisms and me-tabolites. However, many fundamental questions surrounding their origins, early diversification, taxonomy, and special metabolisms remain unsolved because of poor molecular bases in brown and red algal study. As part of the 1 000 Plant Project, the marine macroalgal transcriptomes of 19 Phaeophyceae species and 21 Rhodophyta species from China's coast were sequenced, covering a total of 2 phyla, 3 classes, 11 orders, and 19 families. An average of 2 Gb per sample and a total 87.3 Gb of RNA-seq raw data were generated. Approxi-mately 15 000 to 25 000 unigenes for each brown algal sample and 5 000 to 10 000 unigenes for each red algal sample were annotated and analyzed. The annotation results showed obvious differences in gene expres-sion and genome characteristics between red algae and brown algae;these differences could even be seen between multicellular and unicellular red algae. The results elucidate some fundamental questions about the phylogenetic taxonomy within phaeophytes and rhodophytes, and also reveal many novel metabolic pathways. These pathways include algal CO2 fixation and particular carbohydrate metabolisms, and related gene/gene family characteristics and evolution in brown and red algae. These findings build on known algal genetic information and significantly improve our understanding of algal biology, biodiversity, evolution, and potential utilization of these marine algae.
文摘Global warming is predicted to strengthen marine plant-herbivore interactions. However, little is known about the effect of temperature on palatability and the associated chemical composition of marine macroalgae. To study the effects of physiological stress caused by the warm water temperatures and nutrient-poor conditions that occur during summer, we cultured the brown alga Sargassum yezoense at three different temperatures (16°C, 22°C, and 28°C) in both nutrient-enriched and non-enriched media. We then compared phlorotannin (i.e., defensive compounds) and nitrogen concentrations of S. yezoense as well as consumption rate by the sea urchin Hemicetrotus pulcherrimus among the treatment groups. No effect of culture temperature on phlorotannin and ni-trogen concentrations or consumption rate was detected. Nutrient enrichment resulted in decreased phlorotannin concentration and increased nitrogen concentration. Although nutrient enrichment did not affect consumption rate, a positive correlation between nitrogen concentration and consumption rate was detected. In contrast, there was no correlation between phlorotannin concentration and consumption rate. These results suggested that palatability of S. yezoense to H. pulcherrimus might not be affected by elevated temperature but that it could increase with nutrient enrichment.