Low CO2 results in a rearrangement of carbon metabolism to support C4 photosynthetic carbon assimilation in Thalassiosira pseudonana.

The mechanisms of carbon concentration in marine diatoms are controversial. At low CO2 , decreases in O2 evolution after inhibition of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylases (PEPCs), and increases in PEPC transcript abundances, have been interpreted as evidence for a C4 mechanism in Thalassiosira pseudonana, but the ascertainment of which proteins are responsible for the subsequent decarboxylation and PEP regeneration steps has been elusive. We evaluated the responses of T. pseudonana to steady-state differences in CO2 availability, as well as to transient shifts to low CO2 , by integrated measurements of photosynthetic parameters, transcript abundances and quantitative proteomics. On shifts to low CO2 , two PEPC transcript abundances increased and then declined on timescales consistent with recoveries of Fv /Fm , non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) and maximum chlorophyll a-specific carbon fixation (Pmax ), but transcripts for archetypical decarboxylation enzymes phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) and malic enzyme (ME) did not change. Of 3688 protein abundances measured, 39 were up-regulated under low CO2 , including both PEPCs and pyruvate carboxylase (PYC), whereas ME abundance did not change and PEPCK abundance declined. We propose a closed-loop biochemical model, whereby T. pseudonana produces and subsequently decarboxylates a C4 acid via PEPC2 and PYC, respectively, regenerates phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) from pyruvate in a pyruvate phosphate dikinase-independent (but glycine decarboxylase (GDC)-dependent) manner, and recuperates photorespiratory CO2 as oxaloacetate (OAA).

A common partitioning strategy for photosynthetic products in evolutionarily distinct phytoplankton species.

· We compare the nutrient-dependent photosynthetic efficiencies of the chlorophyte, Dunaliella tertiolecta, with those of the marine diatom, Thalassiosira weissflogii. Despite considerable evolutionary and physiological differences, these two species appear to use nearly identical growth strategies under a wide range of nutrient limitation. · Using a variety of physiological measurements, we find that, for both species and across all growth rates, 75% of the gross photosynthetic electron flow is invested in carbon fixation and only 30% is retained as net carbon accumulation. A majority of gross photosynthesis (70%) is ultimately used as reductant for biosynthetic pathways and for the generation of ATP. · In both species, newly formed carbon products exhibit much shorter half-lives at slow growth rates than at fast growth rates. We show that this growth rate dependence is a result of increased polysaccharide storage during the S phase of the cell cycle. · We present a model of carbon utilization that incorporates this growth rate-dependent carbon allocation and accurately captures (r(2) = 0.94) the observed time-resolved carbon retention. Together, our findings suggest a common photosynthetic optimization strategy in evolutionarily distinct phytoplankton species and contribute towards a systems-level understanding of carbon flow in photoautotrophs.

Climate-driven trends in contemporary ocean productivity.

Contributing roughly half of the biosphere's net primary production (NPP), photosynthesis by oceanic phytoplankton is a vital link in the cycling of carbon between living and inorganic stocks. Each day, more than a hundred million tons of carbon in the form of CO2 are fixed into organic material by these ubiquitous, microscopic plants of the upper ocean, and each day a similar amount of organic carbon is transferred into marine ecosystems by sinking and grazing. The distribution of phytoplankton biomass and NPP is defined by the availability of light and nutrients (nitrogen, phosphate, iron). These growth-limiting factors are in turn regulated by physical processes of ocean circulation, mixed-layer dynamics, upwelling, atmospheric dust deposition, and the solar cycle. Satellite measurements of ocean colour provide a means of quantifying ocean productivity on a global scale and linking its variability to environmental factors. Here we describe global ocean NPP changes detected from space over the past decade. The period is dominated by an initial increase in NPP of 1,930 teragrams of carbon a year (Tg C yr(-1)), followed by a prolonged decrease averaging 190 Tg C yr(-1). These trends are driven by changes occurring in the expansive stratified low-latitude oceans and are tightly coupled to coincident climate variability. This link between the physical environment and ocean biology functions through changes in upper-ocean temperature and stratification, which influence the availability of nutrients for phytoplankton growth. The observed reductions in ocean productivity during the recent post-1999 warming period provide insight on how future climate change can alter marine food webs.

Physiological optimization underlies growth rate-independent chlorophyll-specific gross and net primary production.

Characterization of physiological variability in phytoplankton photosynthetic efficiencies is one of the greatest challenges in assessing ocean net primary production (NPP) from remote sensing of surface chlorophyll (Chl). Nutrient limitation strongly influences phytoplankton intracellular pigmentation, but its impact on Chl-specific NPP (NPP(*)) is debated. We monitored six indices of photosynthetic activity in steady-state Dunaliella tertiolecta cultures over a range of nitrate-limited growth rates (µ), including photosynthetic efficiency of PSII (F(v)/F(m)), O(2)-based gross and net production, 20 min and 24 h carbon assimilation, and carbon- and µ-based NPP. Across all growth rates, O(2)-based Chl-specific gross primary production (GPP(*)(O(2))), NPP(*), and F(v)/F(m) were constant. GPP(*)(O(2)) was 3.3 times greater than NPP(*). In stark contrast, Chl-specific short-term C fixation showed clear linear dependence on µ, reflecting differential allocation of photosynthate between short-lived C products and longer-term storage products. Indeed, (14)C incorporation into carbohydrates was five times greater in cells growing at 1.2 day(-1) than 0.12 day(-1). These storage products are catabolized for ATP and reductant generation within the period of a cell cycle. The relationship between Chl-specific gross and net O(2) production, short-term (14)C-uptake, NPP(*), and growth rate reflects cellular-level regulation of fundamental metabolic pathways in response to nutrient limitation. We conclude that growth rate-dependent photosynthate metabolism bridges the gap between gross and net production and resolves a controversial question regarding nutrient limitation effects on primary production measures.

ASSAY OPTIMIZATION AND REGULATION OF UREASE ACTIVITY IN TWO MARINE DIATOMS.

An in vitro urease enzyme assay was developed for the marine diatoms Thalassiosira pseudonana Hasle et Heimdal (clone 3H) and T. weissflogii (Grunow) Fryxell et Hasle (clone Actin). This assay involves the colorimetric measurement of ammonium following the hydrolysis of urea in crude cell homogenates and it is the first assay to account for the rate of nitrogen assimilation in both species grown on urea as the sole nitrogen source. Urease activity was found to be present regardless of nitrogen source, although activities showed distinctly different patterns depending on the species examined and form of nitrogen supplied. Under nitrogen-replete conditions, urease activity in T. pseudonana was present constitutively when grown on NH4+ and upregulated when grown on NO3- or urea. In nitrogen-replete T. weissflogii, urease activity was present at high constitutive levels regardless of the nitrogen source and showed no upregulation. Nitrogen starvation did not upregulate activity in either species.

Contrasting strategies of photosynthetic energy utilization drive lifestyle strategies in ecologically important picoeukaryotes.

The efficiency with which absorbed light is converted to net growth is a key property for estimating global carbon production. We previously showed that, despite considerable evolutionary distance, Dunaliella tertiolecta (Chlorophyceae) and Thalassiosira weissflogii (Bacillariophyceae) share a common strategy of photosynthetic energy utilization and nearly identical light energy conversion efficiencies. These findings suggested that a single model might be appropriate for describing relationships between measures of phytoplankton production. This conclusion was further evaluated for Ostreococcus tauri RCC1558 and Micromonas pusilla RCC299 (Chlorophyta, Prasinophyceae), two picoeukaryotes with contrasting geographic distributions and swimming abilities. Nutrient-dependent photosynthetic efficiencies in O. tauri were similar to the previously studied larger algae. Specifically, absorption-normalized gross oxygen and carbon production and net carbon production were independent of nutrient limited growth rate. In contrast, all measures of photosynthetic efficiency were strongly dependent on nutrient availability in M. pusilla. This marked difference was accompanied by a diminished relationship between Chla:C and nutrient limited growth rate and a remarkably greater efficiency of gross-to-net energy conversion than the other organisms studied. These results suggest that the cost-benefit of decoupling pigment concentration from nutrient availability enables motile organisms to rapidly exploit more frequent encounters with micro-scale nutrient patches in open ocean environments.

Photophysiological expressions of iron stress in phytoplankton.

Iron is essential for all life, but it is particularly important to photoautotrophs because of the many iron-dependent electron transport components in photosynthetic membranes. Since the proliferation of oxygenic photosynthesis in the Archean ocean, iron has been a scarce commodity, and it is now recognized as a limiting resource for phytoplankton over broad expanses of the open ocean and even in some coastal/continental shelf waters. Iron stress does not impair photochemical or carbon fixation efficiencies, and in this respect it resembles the highly tuned photosynthetic systems of steady-state macronutrient-limited phytoplankton. However, iron stress does present unique photophysiological challenges, and phytoplankton have responded to these challenges through major architectural changes in photosynthetic membranes. These evolved responses include overexpression of photosynthetic pigments and iron-economic pathways for ATP synthesis, and they result in diagnostic fluorescence properties that allow a broad appraisal of iron stress in the field and even the detection of iron stress from space.

LINKING TIME-DEPENDENT CARBON-FIXATION EFFICIENCIES IN DUNALIELLA TERTIOLECTA (CHLOROPHYCEAE) TO UNDERLYING METABOLIC PATHWAYS(1).

The chl-specific short-term (14) C-based production (P(b) ) measurement is a widely used tool to understand phytoplankton responses to environmental stresses. However, among the metabolic consequences of these stresses is variability in lifetimes of newly fixed carbon that cause P(b) to range between chl-specific net primary production (NPP*) and chl-specific gross photosynthetic electron flow that is available for carbon reduction () depending on growth rate. To investigate the basis for this discrepancy, photosynthate utilization was characterized in Dunaliella tertiolecta Butcher grown at three different growth rates in N-limited chemostats. P(b) was measured throughout a 2 min to 24 h time course and showed clear growth-rate-dependent differences in lifetimes of newly fixed carbon. (14) C pulse-chase experiments revealed differences in patterns of carbon utilization between growth rates. At high growth rate, the majority of (14) C was initially fixed into polysaccharide and lipid, but the relative contribution of each labeled biochemical pool to the total label changed over 24 h. In fast-growing cells, labeled polysaccharides decreased 50%, while labeled lipids increased over the first 4 h. At low growth rate, (14) C was initially incorporated primarily into protein, but the contribution of labeled protein to the total label increased over the next 24 h. Together, time-resolved measurements of P(b) and cellular NAD and NADP content suggest an enhanced role for alternative dissipation pathways at very low growth rate. Findings of this study contribute to an integrated understanding of growth-rate-dependent shifts in metabolic processes from photosynthesis to net growth.

Surplus photosynthetic antennae complexes underlie diagnostics of iron limitation in a cyanobacterium.

Chlorophyll fluorescence from phytoplankton provides a tool to assess iron limitation in the oceans, but the physiological mechanism underlying the fluorescence response is not understood. We examined fluorescence properties of the model cyanobacterium Synechocystis PCC6803 and a ΔisiA knock-out mutant of the same species grown under three culture conditions which simulate nutrient conditions found in the open ocean: (1) nitrate and iron replete, (2) limiting-iron and high-nitrate, representative of natural high-nitrate, low-chlorophyll regions, and (3) iron and nitrogen co-limiting. We show that low variable fluorescence, a key diagnostic of iron limitation, results from synthesis of antennae complexes far in excess of what can be accommodated by the iron-restricted pool of photosynthetic reaction centers. Under iron and nitrogen co-limiting conditions, there are no excess antennae complexes and variable fluorescence is high. These results help to explain the well-established fluorescence characteristics of phytoplankton in high-nutrient, low-chlorophyll ocean regions, while also accounting for the lack of these properties in low-iron, low-nitrogen regions. Importantly, our results complete the link between unique molecular consequences of iron stress in phytoplankton and global detection of iron stress in natural populations from space.

Evolved physiological responses of phytoplankton to their integrated growth environment.

Phytoplankton growth and productivity relies on light, multiple nutrients and temperature. These combined factors constitute the 'integrated growth environment'. Since their emergence in the Archaean ocean, phytoplankton have experienced dramatic shifts in their integrated growth environment and, in response, evolved diverse mechanisms to maximize growth by optimizing the allocation of photosynthetic resources (ATP and NADPH) among all cellular processes. Consequently, co-limitation has become an omnipresent condition in the global ocean. Here we focus on evolved phytoplankton populations of the contemporary ocean and the varied energetic pathways they employ to solve the optimization problem of resource supply and demand. Central to this discussion is the allocation of reductant formed through photosynthesis, which we propose has the following three primary fates: carbon fixation, direct use and ATP generation. Investment of reductant among these three sinks is tied to cell cycle events, differentially influenced by specific forms of nutrient stress, and a strong determinant of relationships between light-harvesting (pigment), photosynthetic electron transport and carbon fixation. Global implications of optimization are illustrated by deconvolving trends in the 10-year global satellite chlorophyll record into contributions from biomass and physiology, thereby providing a unique perspective on the dynamic nature of surface phytoplankton populations and their link to climate.

The rise of oxygen over the past 205 million years and the evolution of large placental mammals.

On the basis of a carbon isotopic record of both marine carbonates and organic matter from the Triassic-Jurassic boundary to the present, we modeled oxygen concentrations over the past 205 million years. Our analysis indicates that atmospheric oxygen approximately doubled over this period, with relatively rapid increases in the early Jurassic and the Eocene. We suggest that the overall increase in oxygen, mediated by the formation of passive continental margins along the Atlantic Ocean during the opening phase of the current Wilson cycle, was a critical factor in the evolution, radiation, and subsequent increase in average size of placental mammals.

A proton buffering role for silica in diatoms.

For 40 million years, diatoms have dominated the reverse weathering of silica on Earth. These photosynthetic protists take up dissolved silicic acid from the water and precipitate opaline silica to form their cell wall. We show that the biosilica of diatoms is an effective pH buffer, enabling the enzymatic conversion of bicarbonate to CO2, an important step in inorganic carbon acquisition by these organisms. Because diatoms are responsible for one-quarter of global primary production and for a large fraction of the carbon exported to the deep sea, the global cycles of Si and C may be linked mechanistically.

The role of the C4 pathway in carbon accumulation and fixation in a marine diatom.

The role of a C(4) pathway in photosynthetic carbon fixation by marine diatoms is presently debated. Previous labeling studies have shown the transfer of photosynthetically fixed carbon through a C(4) pathway and recent genomic data provide evidence for the existence of key enzymes involved in C(4) metabolism. Nonetheless, the importance of the C(4) pathway in photosynthesis has been questioned and this pathway is seen as redundant to the known CO(2) concentrating mechanism of diatoms. Here we show that the inhibition of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPCase) by 3,3-dichloro-2-dihydroxyphosphinoylmethyl-2-propenoate resulted in a more than 90% decrease in whole cell photosynthesis in Thalassiosira weissflogii cells acclimated to low CO(2) (10 microm), but had little effect on photosynthesis in the C(3) marine Chlorophyte, Chlamydomonas sp. In 3,3-dichloro-2-dihydroxyphosphinoylmethyl-2-propenoate-treated T. weissflogii cells, elevated CO(2) (150 microm) or low O(2) (80-180 microm) restored photosynthesis to the control rate linking PEPCase inhibition with CO(2) supply in this diatom. In C(4) organic carbon-inorganic carbon competition experiments, the (12)C-labeled C(4) products of PEPCase, oxaloacetic acid and its reduced form malic acid suppressed the fixation of (14)C-labeled inorganic carbon by 40% to 50%, but had no effect on O(2) evolution in photosynthesizing diatoms. Oxaloacetic acid-dependent O(2) evolution in T. weissflogii was twice as high in cells acclimated to 10 microm rather than 22 microm CO(2), indicating that the use of C(4) compounds for photosynthesis is regulated over the range of CO(2) concentrations observed in marine surface waters. Short-term (14)C uptake (silicone oil centrifugation) and CO(2) release (membrane inlet mass spectrometry) experiments that employed a protein denaturing cell extraction solution containing the PEPCKase inhibitor mercaptopicolinic acid revealed that much of the carbon taken up by diatoms during photosynthesis is stored as organic carbon before being fixed in the Calvin cycle, as expected if the C(4) pathway functions as a CO(2) concentrating mechanism. Together these results demonstrate that the C(4) pathway is important in carbon accumulation and photosynthetic carbon fixation in diatoms at low (atmospheric) CO(2).

Acquisition of inorganic carbon by the marine diatom Thalassiosira weissflogii.

Recent data on the physiology of inorganic carbon acquisition by the model marine diatom Thalassiosira weissflogii (Grunow) demonstrate the importance of the catalytic equilibration of HCO3-and CO2by carbonic anhydrases located in the periplasm and in the cytoplasm. These enzymes can use Zn, Co or Cd as their metal centre, and their activity increases at low ambient CO2. The silica frustule provides buffering for extracellular CA activity, The transmembrane transport of CO2 may occur by passive diffusion. Under CO2 limitation, the cytoplasmic HCO3-is used to form malate and oxaloacetic acid via phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase. It appears that subsequent decarboxylation of these compounds in the chloroplast regenerates CO2 near the site of Rubisco, and thus provides the organism with an effective unicellular C4 photosynthetic pathway. These results, together with other published data, bring up two major questions regarding inorganic carbon acquisition in diatoms: What is the major species of inorganic carbon (CO2 or HCO3-) transported across the membrane under natural conditions? And what is the form of carbon (inorganic or organic) accumulated by the cells?

Membrane lipids of symbiotic algae are diagnostic of sensitivity to thermal bleaching in corals.

Over the past three decades, massive bleaching events of zooxanthellate corals have been documented across the range of global distribution. Although the phenomenon is correlated with relatively small increases in sea-surface temperature and enhanced light intensity, the underlying physiological mechanism remains unknown. In this article we demonstrate that thylakoid membrane lipid composition is a key determinate of thermal-stress sensitivity in symbiotic algae of cnidarians. Analyses of thylakoid membranes reveal that the critical threshold temperature separating thermally tolerant from sensitive species of zooxanthellae is determined by the saturation of the lipids. The lipid composition is potentially diagnostic of the differential nature of thermally induced bleaching found in scleractinian corals. Measurements of variable chlorophyll fluorescence kinetic transients indicate that thermally damaged membranes are energetically uncoupled but remain capable of splitting water. Consequently, a fraction of the photosynthetically produced oxygen is reduced by photosystem I through the Mehler reaction to form reactive oxygen species, which rapidly accumulate at high irradiance levels and trigger death and expulsion of the endosymbiotic algae. Differential sensitivity to thermal stress among the various species of Symbiodinium seems to be distributed across all clades. A clocked molecular phylogenetic analysis suggests that the evolutionary history of symbiotic algae in cnidarians selected for a reduced tolerance to elevated temperatures in the latter portion of the Cenozoic.