Photosynthetic and metabolic responses of eelgrass Zostera marina L. to short-term high-temperature exposure

In recent years, extreme heat events have occurred worldwide and the ocean temperature has been rising, causing stress on the photosynthesis and growth of seagrass. Metabolomics enables detection of metabolic changes under environmental stress. In this study, the photosynthetic physiology and metabolic changes of the eelgrass Zostera marina L. in response to 48 h exposure to 32°C were investigated. The results showed that high temperature induced signi?cant inhibition of photosynthetic effciency(Δ F/F′ m)(23.9%lower than the control), enhanced respiration(58.3% higher), and decreased carbohydrate decomposition products and tricarboxylic acid(TCA) cycle intermediate products, indicating that the energy supply of the eelgrass may be insuffcient at high temperature. In addition, high temperature decreased stearic acid and linoleic acid in eelgrass, suggesting the composition of the membrane system of eelgrass may change at high temperature and implying that high temperature may cause the membrane system to be unstable.     

Identification of suitable reference genes for quantitative gene expression analysis in clam Cyclina sinensis under salinity stress and Vibrio infection

The appropriate reference gene is a prerequisite for accurate normalization of gene expression level, and research on suitable reference genes in clam Cyclina sinensis is scarce. To improve the situation, we selected five commonly used housekeeping genes, including β-actin, Elongation factor 1-α (EF1-α), Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), 40S ribosomal protein S18 (RPS18), and Tubulin α (TUB-α), then evaluated their expression stability in different adult tissues and under different experimental treatments (salinity stress and Vibrio parahaemolyticus infection). Their expression stability was analyzed by three frequently used programs, geNorm, NormFinder, and BestKeeper. This analysis indicated that multiple genes should be used for normalization, and we concluded that the reference gene combination GAPDH-RPS18-β-actin, should be used for qRT-PCR analysis in different tissues of C. sinensis under normal physiological conditions. For the clams under salinity stress and Vibrio infection, EF1-α-GAPDH-RPS18 was recommended as the gene combination for qRT-PCR normalization. TUB-α was generally poorly ranked by all programs, and should not be used in future studies. This study should provide fundamental support for accurate quantitative gene expression analysis of this species.

     

Characterization of the growth,chlorophyll content and lipid accumulation in a marine microalgae Dunaliella tertiolecta under different nitrogen to phosphorus ratios

Microalgal lipids are regarded as main future feedstock of biofuels for its higher efficiency of accumulation and sustainable production.In order to investigate the effect of various nitrogen to phosphorus ratios on cells growth,chlorophyll content and accumulation of lipids in Dunaliella tertiolecta,experiments were carried out in modified microalgal medium with inorganic nitrogen(nitrate-nitrogen) or organic nitrogen(urea-nitrogen) as the sole nitrogen source at initial N:P ratios ranging from 1:1 to 32:1.The favorable N:P of 16:1 in the nitrate-N or urea-N medium yielded the maximum cell density and specific growth rate.Decrease in chlorophyll content were observed at the N:P of 4:1 in both nitrate-N and urea-N cultures.It was also observed that the maximum lipids concentration was obtained at the N:P of 4:1 in both nitrate and urea nutrient medium.The lipid productivity and lipid content of cultures in the urea-N medium at the N:P of 4:1were markedly higher than those from cultures with other N:P ratios(p 0.05).The results of this work illustrate the possibility that higher ratios of nitrogen to phosphorus have enhancing effect on cells growth of D.tertiolecta.Conversely,higher lipid accumulation is associated with a decrease in chlorophyll content under lower ratios of nitrogen to phosphorus.The results confirm the hypothesis of this study that a larger metabolic flux has been channeled to lipid accumulation in D.tertiolecta cells when the ratios of nitrogen to phosphorus drop below a critical level.     

Growth and Fv/Fm in embryos of Hizikia fusiformis (Harvey) Okamura (Sargassaceae,Phaeophyta) cultured under different temperature and irradiance conditions

Journal of Oceanology and Limnology - Understanding the embryo physiology of Hizikia fusiformis (Harvey) Okamura will promote the development of artificial seedlings. In this study, H. fusiformis...     

Cloning and expression analysis of a ubiquitin gene (Ub L40 ) in the haemocytes of Crassostrea hongkongensis under bacterial challenge

Ubiquitin, a highly conserved stress-related protein, is assigned multiple functions, such as DNA processing, protein degradation, and ribosome synthesis. The Crassostrea hongkongensis ubiquitin gene (designated ChUbL40) was cloned by a combination of suppressive subtractive hybridization (SSH) and rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE). The full-length cDNA of ChUbL40 is 496 bp in length, consisting of a 5’ untranslated region (UTR) of 34 bp, a 3’-UTR of 75 bp and an open reading frame of 387 bp encoding a ubiquitin fusion protein of 128 amino acids. Analysis of the amino acid sequence of ChUbL40 reveals that UbL40 is highly conservative during evolution. The expression patterns of ChUbL40 gene in various tissues were examined by real-time PCR. The expression level of ChUbL40 in haemocytes is down-regulated at 4 h and gradually returned to its original level from 6 h to 24 h after Vibrio alginolyticus challenge. Our results suggest that ChUbL40 is ubiquitously expressed and plays an important role in immune defense against bacterial challenge.