Evidence for contrasting roles of dimethylsulfoniopropionate production in Emiliania huxleyi and Thalassiosira oceanica

Evidence for contrasting roles of dimethylsulfoniopropionate production in Emiliania huxleyi and Thalassiosira oceanica

• Dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) is a globally abundant marine metabolite and a significant source of organic carbon and sulfur for marine microbial ecosystems with the potential to influence climate regulation. However, the physiological function of DMSP has remained enigmatic for >30 yr. Rec...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The New phytologist 2020-04, Vol.226 (2), p.396-409
Main Authors: McParland, Erin L., Wright, Anna, Art, Kristin, He, Meagan, Levine, Naomi M.
Format: Article
Language:eng
Subjects:
Cellular manufacture
Diatoms
dimethylsulfoniopropionate
Dimethylsulphoniopropionate
Ecosystem
Emiliania huxleyi
Fv/Fm
Growth rate
Haptophyta
Intracellular
Marine ecosystems
Metabolites
Microorganisms
nitrate limitation
Organic carbon
Physiological functions
Physiology
salinity stress
Solutes
Stress response
Sulfonium Compounds
Sulfur
Sulphur
Thalassiosira oceanica
thermal curve
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Summary:• Dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) is a globally abundant marine metabolite and a significant source of organic carbon and sulfur for marine microbial ecosystems with the potential to influence climate regulation. However, the physiological function of DMSP has remained enigmatic for >30 yr. Recent insight suggests that there are different physiological roles for DMSP based on the cellular DMSP concentrations in producers. • Differential production of DMSP was tested with multiple physiological experiments that altered nitrate availability, salinity and temperature to create stressed growth and target different metabolic conditions in Emiliania huxleyi, a high DMSP producer and Thalassiosira oceanica, a low DMSP producer. • Emiliania huxleyi intracellular DMSP did not respond to metabolically imbalanced conditions, while Thalassiosira oceanica intracellular DMSP was significantly correlated to stressed growth rate across all conditions tested and exhibited a plastic response on a timescale of hours in nonsteady-state. • The previous assumption that proposed DMSP mechanism(s) can be universally applied to all producers is shown to be unlikely. Rather, two distinct ecological roles for DMSP likely exist that differ by producer type, where: (1) the primary role of DMSP in high producers is a constitutive compatible solute; and (2) DMSP production in low producers is a finely tuned stress response.
ISSN:0028-646X
1469-8137