Aspects of phosphorus physiology associated with phosphate-induced polar lipid remodelling in marine microalgae.

Marine microalgae exhibit a diversified phosphorus physiology and have also been recently found to show high inter-taxa variability in their phosphate induced-polar lipids' remodelling. Identification of phosphorus physiology aspects that are more related to lipid remodelling can contribute to better understanding of such intricate phytoplankton lipid metabolism. Therefore, some aspects of phosphorus physiology related to its uptake, storage and use were evaluated in a taxonomically diversified group of nine marine microalgae that was arranged into three subgroups, each of them including species showing similar polar lipid responses to phosphate. Luxury phosphate uptake (PU) was the physiological aspect best associated to microalgal polar lipid metabolism as it was maximal in species (Picochlorum atomus, Tetraselmis suecica and Nannochloropsis gaditana) that were able to counterbalance between phospholipids (PL) and betaine lipids (BL). Cryptophytes (Rhodomonas baltica, Chroomonas placoidea), characterized by their constitutive BL and flexible PL contents in response to phosphate, had almost no luxury PU and showed higher phosphorus cell quota (QP) under phosphate deprivation. Haptophyes (Isochrysis galbana, Diacronema vlkianum), with constitutive BL contents and permanently minimal PL contents, showed the lowest QP when deprived of phosphate while their luxury PU was below that for green microalgae. Induction of alkaline phosphatase activity following phosphate depletion was maximal in diatoms (Phaeodactylum tricornutum, Chaetoceros gracilis) and I. galbana but it was unrelated to lipid remodelling. Despite strong influence of taxonomy, polar lipid remodelling accounted for 38.8% of total variation when microalgae were ordinated using their physiological responses to phosphorus as descriptive variables.

Polar Lipids Analysis of Cultured Phytoplankton Reveals Significant Inter-taxa Changes, Low Influence of Growth Stage, and Usefulness in Chemotaxonomy.

The high lipid diversity of microalgae has been used to taxonomically differentiate phytoplankton taxa at the class level. However, important lipids such as phospholipids (PL) and betaine lipids (BL) with potential chemotaxonomy application in phytoplankton ecology have been scarcely studied. The chemotaxonomy value of PL and BL depends on their intraspecific extent of variation as microalgae respond to external changing factors. To determine such effects, lipid class changes occurring at different growth stages in 15 microalgae from ten different classes were analyzed. BL occurred in 14 species and were the less affected lipids by growth stage with diacylglyceryl-hydroxymethyl-N,N,N-trimethyl-b-alanine (DGTA) showing the highest stability. PL were more influenced by growth stage with phosphatidylcholine (PC), phosphatidylglycerol (PG), and phosphatidyletanolamine (PE) declining towards older culture stages in some species. Glycolipids were the more common lipids, and no evident age-related variability pattern could be associated to taxonomic diversity. Selecting BL and PL as descriptor variables optimally distinguished microalgae taxonomic variability at all growth stages. Principal coordinate analysis arranged species through a main tendency from diacylglyceryl-hydroxymethyl-N,N,N-trimethyl-b-alanine (DGCC) containing species (mainly dinoflagellates and haptophytes) to DGTA or PC containing species (mainly cryptophytes). Two diatom classes with similar fatty acid profiles could be distinguished from their respective content in DGTA (Bacillariophyceae) or DGCC (Mediophyceae). In green lineage classes (Trebouxiophyceae, Porphyridophyceae, and Chlorodendrophyceae), PC was a better descriptor than BL. BL and PL explained a higher proportion of microalgae taxonomic variation than did fatty acids and played a complementary role as lipid markers.

Interspecific variability in phosphorus-induced lipid remodelling among marine eukaryotic phytoplankton.

The response of marine microalgal lipids to phosphorus is of central importance in phytoplankton ecology but remains poorly understood. We determined how taxonomically diverse microalgal species remodelled their lipid class profile in response to phosphorus availability and whether these changes coincided with those already known to occur in land plants and in the limited number of phytoplankton species for which data are available. The complete lipid class profile and specific lipid ratios influenced by phosphorus availability were quantified in two green microalgae and seven Chromalveolates exposed to phosphorus repletion, deprivation and replenishment. Lipid class cell quota changes in the two green microalgae resembled the currently described pattern of betaine lipids substituting for phospholipids under phosphorus depletion, whereas only two of the studied Chromalveolates showed this pattern. Sulpholipids counterbalanced phosphatidylglycerol only in Picochlorum atomus. In all other species, both lipids decreased simultaneously under phosphorus deprivation, although sulpholipids declined more slowly. Phosphorus deprivation always induced a decrease in digalactosyl-diacylglycerol. However, the ratio of digalactosyl-diacylglycerol to total phospholipids increased in eight species and remained unchanged in Isochrysis galbana. Marine phytoplankton seems to have evolved a diversified mechanism for remodelling its lipid class profile under the influence of phosphorus, with cryptophytes and particularly haptophytes exhibiting previously unobserved lipid responses to phosphorus.