Structural and functional analyses of Rubisco from arctic diatom species reveal unusual posttranslational modifications.

The catalytic performance of the major CO2-assimilating enzyme, ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco), restricts photosynthetic productivity. Natural diversity in the catalytic properties of Rubisco indicates possibilities for improvement. Oceanic phytoplankton contain some of the most efficient Rubisco enzymes, and diatoms in particular are responsible for a significant proportion of total marine primary production as well as being a major source of CO2 sequestration in polar cold waters. Until now, the biochemical properties and three-dimensional structures of Rubisco from diatoms were unknown. Here, diatoms from arctic waters were collected, cultivated, and analyzed for their CO2-fixing capability. We characterized the kinetic properties of five and determined the crystal structures of four Rubiscos selected for their high CO2-fixing efficiency. The DNA sequences of the rbcL and rbcS genes of the selected diatoms were similar, reflecting their close phylogenetic relationship. The Vmax and Km for the oxygenase and carboxylase activities at 25 °C and the specificity factors (Sc/o) at 15, 25, and 35 °C were determined. The Sc/o values were high, approaching those of mono- and dicot plants, thus exhibiting good selectivity for CO2 relative to O2 Structurally, diatom Rubiscos belong to form I C/D, containing small subunits characterized by a short ßA-ßB loop and a C-terminal extension that forms a ß-hairpin structure (ßE-ßF loop). Of note, the diatom Rubiscos featured a number of posttranslational modifications of the large subunit, including 4-hydroxyproline, ß-hydroxyleucine, hydroxylated and nitrosylated cysteine, mono- and dihydroxylated lysine, and trimethylated lysine. Our studies suggest adaptation toward achieving efficient CO2 fixation in arctic diatom Rubiscos.

The effect of freeze/thaw cycles on reproducibility of metabolic profiling of marine microalgal extracts using direct infusion high-resolution mass spectrometry (HR-MS).

During normal sample preparation, storage in freezers and subsequent freeze/thaw cycles are commonly introduced. The effect of freeze/thaw cycles on the metabolic profiling of microalgal extracts using HR-MS was investigated. Methanolic extracts of monocultures of Arctic marine diatoms were analyzed immediately after extraction, after seven days of storage at -78 °C (one freeze/thaw cycle), and after additional seven days at -20 °C (two freeze/thaw cycles). Repeated direct infusion high-resolution mass spectrometry analysis of microalgae extracts of the same sample showed that reproducibility was ca. 90% when a fresh (unfrozen) sample was analyzed. The overall reproducibility decreased further by ca. 10% after the first freeze/thaw-cycle, and after one more freeze/thaw cycle the reproducibility decreased further by ca. 7%. The decrease in reproducibility after freeze-thaw cycles could be attributed to sample degradation and not to instrument variability.

Chemical diversity as a function of temperature in six northern diatom species.

In this study, we investigate how metabolic fingerprints are related to temperature. Six common northern temperate diatoms (Attheya longicornis, Chaetoceros socialis, Chaetoceros furcellatus, Porosira glacialis, Skeletonema marinoi, and Thalassiosira gravida) were cultivated at two different temperatures, 0.5 and 8.5 °C. To exclude metabolic variations due to differences in growth rates, the growth rates were kept similar by performing the experiments under light limited conditions but in exponential growth phase. Growth rates and maximum quantum yield of photosynthesis were measured and interpreted as physiological variables, and metabolic fingerprints were acquired by high-resolution mass spectrometry. The chemical diversity varied substantially between the two temperatures for the tested species, ranging from 31% similarity for C. furcellatus and P. glacialis to 81% similarity for A. longicornis. The chemical diversity was generally highest at the lowest temperature.