How diatom blooms are being formed: Identifying the genetic underpinnings of fast growth.

硅藻华是如何形成的：确定快速生长的遗传基础。

• 批准号: NE/J013730/1
• 负责人: Thomas Mock
• 金额: $ 6.6万
• 依托单位: University of East Anglia
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2012 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=NE%2FJ013730%2F1
• 关键词: How; diatom; blooms; being; formed

Diatoms are responsible for about 25% of global carbon fixation as a result of their successful opportunistic 'bloom and bust' life cycle, which means they quickly dominate phytoplankton communities when conditions become favourable. A rapidly-changing environment has been regarded as the most important driver for diatoms' lifestyle. Decades of research confirm the importance of light, temperature and nutrients for bloom formation in the ocean. Bloom formation is characteristic for many different microalgal species in the ocean. They are able to quickly build up high cell concentrations and therefore biomass if conditions become favourable, which particularly is known from toxic algal blooms close to the shore. These blooms are quite often caused by a combination of elevated temperatures and high concentrations of nutrients. However, the majority of algal blooms in the ocean are not caused by toxic species. Most oceanic microalgae form seasonal blooms in spring and autum, which fuel the entire marine food web. The significance of this seasonal process on a global scale even visible from space is the reason why many different groups from all over the world have worked for decades to better understand how these blooms are being formed. Much has been learned from these studies over the past decades but our group has for the first time provided evidence that a specific conserved key regulator protein and a wider network of many still unknown proteins need to be present in order to be able for diatoms to form blooms. Ramifications of this discovery are significant for our understanding of bloom formation in the ocean but also for biotechnological applications based on microalgae (e.g. biofuel). This fundamental and new knowledge can help us to optimize growth of algae by means of reverse genetics in order to produce any algal product more efficiently and therefore to a cheaper prize. This small grant application aims to obtain a new piece of knowledge to better understand how one single protein and its genetic network can translate favorable environmental conditions into fast growth. We want to investigate the mechanism of action of the gene product of our bloom inducer gene (BIG1). Preliminary evidence shows that the BIG1 protein binds to DNA but we don't know whether it directly binds or via an interacting protein. Another open question is where it binds on the DNA. This grant application will help us to answer how and where the gene product of BIG1 binds to DNA and therefore activates other genes involved in cell division and therefore fast growth. This knowledge is essential for a better understanding of the genetic underpinnings of bloom formation in diatoms but also for biotechnological improvement of algal growth for any kind of product derived from marine microalgae.

硅藻负责全球约25%的碳固定，这是由于它们成功的机会主义的“繁荣和萧条”生命周期，这意味着当条件变得有利时，它们很快就会主导浮游植物群落。快速变化的环境被认为是硅藻生活方式的最重要驱动力。几十年的研究证实了光、温度和营养物质对海洋水华形成的重要性。水华形成是海洋中许多不同微藻物种的特征。如果条件变得有利，它们能够迅速积累高细胞浓度，从而积累高生物量，特别是从靠近海岸的有毒藻类大量繁殖中可以看出这一点。这些水华往往是由高温和高浓度营养物质的组合引起的。然而，海洋中的大多数藻华不是由有毒物种引起的。大多数海洋微藻在春季和秋季形成季节性水华，为整个海洋食物网提供燃料。这种季节性过程在全球范围内的重要性，甚至从太空中也可以看到，这就是为什么世界各地的许多不同团体几十年来一直致力于更好地了解这些水华是如何形成的。在过去的几十年里，我们从这些研究中学到了很多东西，但我们的研究小组首次提供了证据，证明一个特定的保守关键调节蛋白和许多未知蛋白质的更广泛的网络需要存在，以便能够使硅藻形成水华。这一发现的分支对于我们理解海洋中水华的形成以及基于微藻的生物技术应用（例如生物燃料）都具有重要意义。这些基本的新知识可以帮助我们通过反向遗传学优化藻类的生长，以便更有效地生产任何藻类产品，从而获得更便宜的奖品。这项小型资助申请旨在获得一项新的知识，以更好地了解一种蛋白质及其遗传网络如何将有利的环境条件转化为快速生长。我们想研究我们的开花诱导基因（BIG1）的基因产物的作用机制。初步证据表明，BIG1蛋白与DNA结合，但我们不知道它是直接结合还是通过相互作用的蛋白质结合。另一个悬而未决的问题是它在DNA上的结合位置。这项拨款申请将帮助我们回答BIG1的基因产物如何以及在哪里与DNA结合，从而激活参与细胞分裂的其他基因，从而快速生长。这一知识对于更好地了解硅藻水华形成的遗传基础至关重要，而且对于从海洋微藻衍生的任何种类产品的藻类生长的生物技术改进也至关重要。

项目成果

The first evidence for genotypic stability in a cryopreserved transgenic diatom

• DOI: 10.1007/s10811-013-0047-y
• 发表时间: 2014-02
• 期刊: Journal of Applied Phycology
• 影响因子: 3.3
• 作者: Rachel Hipkin;J. Day;C. Rad-Menéndez;T. Mock

Global discovery and characterization of small non-coding RNAs in marine microalgae.

海洋微藻中小非编码 RNA 的全球发现和表征。

• DOI: 10.1186/1471-2164-15-697
• 发表时间: 2014-08-20
• 期刊: BMC genomics
• 影响因子: 4.4
• 作者: Lopez-Gomollon S;Beckers M;Rathjen T;Moxon S;Maumus F;Mohorianu I;Moulton V;Dalmay T;Mock T
• 通讯作者: Mock T