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Environmental impacts on single-cell variation within a ubiquitous diatom: The role of growth rate.

ABSTRACT: Morphological and physiological characteristics of phytoplankton cells are highly sensitive to changes in environmental conditions and, in turn, influence the dynamics of phytoplankton populations and communities. To cope with environmental change, trait variability and phenotypic plasticity may play an important role. Since global change comprises simultaneous changes in abiotic parameters, we assessed the impact of multiple drivers on functional traits of the diatom Thalassiosira (Conticribra) weissflogii by manipulating concurrently temperature, pCO2, and dissolved nitrogen:phosphorus (N:P) ratio. We tested three scenarios: ambient (ambient temperature and atmospheric pCO2; 16 N:P ratio), moderate future scenario (+1.5°C and 800 ppm CO2; 25 N:P ratio), and more severe future scenario (+3°C and 1000 ppm CO2; 25 N:P ratio). We applied flow cytometry to measure on single-cell levels to investigate trait variability and phenotypic plasticity within one strain of diatoms. Growth rates differed significantly between the treatments and were strongly correlated with cell size and cellular chlorophyll a content. We observed a negative correlation of growth rate with chlorophyll a variability among single strain populations and a negative correlation with the phenotypic plasticity of cell size, i.e. when growth rates were higher, the cell size cell-to-cell variability within cultures was lower. Additionally, the phenotypic plasticity in cell size was lower under the global change scenarios. Overall, our study shows that multiple traits are interlinked and driven by growth rate and that this interconnection may partly be shaped by environmental factors.

SUBMITTER: Groß E

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8104383 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Chromosomal DNA must be in single-strand form for important transactions such as replication, transcription, and recombination to occur. The single-strand DNA (ssDNA) is more prone to damage than double-strand DNA (dsDNA), due to greater exposure of chemically reactive moieties in the nitrogenous bases. Thus, there can be agents that damage regions of ssDNA in vivo while being inert toward dsDNA. To assess the potential hazard posed by such agents, we devised an ssDNA-specific mutagenesis reporter system in budding yeast. The reporter strains bear the cdc13-1 temperature-sensitive mutation, such that shifting to 37°C results in telomere uncapping and ensuing 5' to 3' enzymatic resection. This exposes the reporter region, containing three closely-spaced reporter genes, as a long 3' ssDNA overhang. We validated the ability of the system to detect mutagenic damage within ssDNA by expressing a modified human single-strand specific cytosine deaminase, APOBEC3G. APOBEC3G induced a high density of substitutions at cytosines in the ssDNA overhang strand, resulting in frequent, simultaneous inactivation of two reporter genes. We then examined the mutagenicity of sulfites, a class of reactive sulfur oxides to which humans are exposed frequently via respiration and food intake. Sulfites, at a concentration similar to that found in some foods, induced a high density of mutations, almost always as substitutions at cytosines in the ssDNA overhang strand, resulting in simultaneous inactivation of at least two reporter genes. Furthermore, sulfites formed a long-lived adducted 2'-deoxyuracil intermediate in DNA that was resistant to excision by uracil-DNA N-glycosylase. This intermediate was bypassed by error-prone translesion DNA synthesis, frequently involving Pol ζ, during repair synthesis. Our results suggest that sulfite-induced lesions in DNA can be particularly deleterious, since cells might not possess the means to repair or bypass such lesions accurately.

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Environmental impacts on single-cell variation within a ubiquitous diatom: The role of growth rate.

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