Diversity and expression of diatom silicon transporter genes during a flood event in the East China Sea

Diatoms are responsible for 75 % of the primary production in high-nutrient and coastal regions of the ocean, and their growth is sometimes limited by silicon availability. We investigated the genetic diversity of silicon transporter (Sit) genes and measured Sit gene expression in one dominant genus...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine biology 2015-07, Vol.162 (7), p.1511-1522
Main Authors: Kang, Lee-Kuo, Feng, Chao-Chang, Chang, Jeng, Gong, Gwo-Ching
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bacillariophyceae
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Chaetoceros
Coastal zone
coasts
Diatoms
Freshwater & Marine Ecology
gene expression
genes
Genetic aspects
genetic databases
Genetic diversity
genetic variation
Life Sciences
Marine
Marine & Freshwater Sciences
Marine biology
Microbiology
Oceanography
Original Paper
Primary production
primary productivity
reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction
rivers
sequence alignment
silicic acid
Silicon
Zoology
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Summary:Diatoms are responsible for 75 % of the primary production in high-nutrient and coastal regions of the ocean, and their growth is sometimes limited by silicon availability. We investigated the genetic diversity of silicon transporter (Sit) genes and measured Sit gene expression in one dominant genus, Chaetoceros, as a molecular indicator of silicon deficiency in the East China Sea (ECS). A total of 34 Sit fragments were sequenced from species belonging to 13 genera. These sequences covered 12 genera of which no Sit sequences have been previously reported; thus, this information has greatly expanded the Sit gene database. These sequences were combined with the existing Sit sequences in GenBank, and the combined set was used to sort the homologous Sit identified in the ECS. Based on the Sit sequence alignments, specific primers were designed for the Chaetoceros genus to quantitatively estimate Sit expression levels using quantitative RT-PCR. In a cruise conducted in July 2010, the observed Chaetoceros Sit transcript levels were comparable in range to those detected in the species, C. affinis, cultured under silicon-sufficient conditions. This finding may be explained by the devastating 2010 flood of the Changjiang River, which resulted in the influx of a large amount of silicic acid to the ECS.
ISSN:0025-3162
1432-1793
DOI:10.1007/s00227-015-2687-8