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Grazer-induced morphological defense in Scenedesmus obliquus is affected by competition against Microcystis aeruginosa.

ABSTRACT: The green alga Scenedesmus is known for its phenotypic plasticity in response to grazing risk. However, the benefits of colony formation induced by infochemicals from zooplankton should come with costs. That is, a tradeoff in benefit-to-cost ratios is likely under complex environmental conditions. In this study, we hypothesized that the coexistence of Scenedesmus and its competitors decreases the formation of anti-grazer colonies in Scenedesmus. Results demonstrated that the presence of a competitor Microcystis aeruginosa inhibited inducible defensive colony formation of Scenedesmus obliquus, and the established defensive colonies negatively affected the competitive ability of S. obliquus. The proportion of induced defensive colonies in cultures was dependent on the relative abundance of competitors. Under low competition intensity, large amount of eight-celled colonies were formed but at the cost of decreased competitive inhibition on M. aeruginosa. By contrast, defensive colony formation of S. obliquus slacked in the presence of high competition intensity to maintain a high displacement rate (competitive ability). In conclusion, S. obliquus exhibited different responses to potential grazing pressure under different intensities of competition, i.e., Scenedesmus morphological response to grazing infochemicals was affected by competition against Microcystis.

SUBMITTER: Zhu X

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4649898 | biostudies-other | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Project description:BackgroundScenedesmus obliquus belongs to green microalgae and is widely used in aquaculture as feed, which is also explored for lipid production and bioremediation. However, genomic studies of this microalga have been very limited. Cell self-flocculation of microalgal cells can be used as a simple and economic method for harvesting biomass, and it is of great importance to perform genome-scale studies for the self-flocculating S. obliquus strains to promote their biotechnological applications.ResultsWe employed the Pacific Biosciences sequencing platform for sequencing the genome of the self-flocculating microalga S. obliquus AS-6-11, and used the MECAT software for de novo genome assembly. The estimated genome size of S. obliquus AS-6-11 is 172.3 Mbp with an N50 of 94,410 bp, and 31,964 protein-coding genes were identified. Gene Ontology (GO) and KEGG pathway analyses revealed 65 GO terms and 428 biosynthetic pathways. Comparing to the genome sequences of the well-studied green microalgae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, Chlorella variabilis, Volvox carteri and Micractinium conductrix, the genome of S. obliquus AS-6-11 encodes more unique proteins, including one gene that encodes D-mannose binding lectin. Genes encoding the glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored cell wall proteins, and proteins with fasciclin domains that are commonly found in cell wall proteins might be responsible for the self-flocculating phenotype, and were analyzed in detail. Four genes encoding both GPI-anchored cell wall proteins and fasciclin domain proteins are the most interesting targets for further studies.ConclusionsThe genome sequence of the self-flocculating microalgal S. obliquus AS-6-11 was annotated and analyzed. To our best knowledge, this is the first report on the in-depth annotation of the S. obliquus genome, and the results will facilitate functional genomic studies and metabolic engineering of this important microalga. The comparative genomic analysis here also provides new insights into the evolution of green microalgae. Furthermore, identification of the potential genes encoding self-flocculating proteins will benefit studies on the molecular mechanism underlying this phenotype for its better control and biotechnological applications as well.

Project description:The demand for phenolic compounds has been increasing rapidly, which has intensified the production and usage of phenol at a commercial scale. In some polluted water bodies, phenol has become one of the typical aromatic contaminants. Such water bodies are inescapably influenced by nutrients from human activities, and also suffer from nuisance cyanobacterial blooms. While phenolic pollution threatens water safety and ecological balance, algal cells are ubiquitous and sensitive to pollutants. Therefore, effects of phenolic pollution on interspecific competition between a bloom-forming cyanobacterium and other common alga merit quantitative investigation. In this study, the effects of phenol on Microcystis aeruginosa (M. aeruginosa, a bloom-forming cyanobacterium) and Chlorella pyrenoidosa (C. pyrenoidosa, a ubiquitous green alga) were analyzed in mono- and co-cultures. The two species were exposed to a series of phenol treatments (0, 2, 20, and 200 μg mL-1). Population dynamics were measured by a flow cytometer and analyzed by the Lotka-Volterra model. The results showed that M. aeruginosa was more sensitive to phenol (EC50 = 80.8 ± 0.16 μg mL-1) compared to C. pyrenoidosa (EC50 = 631.4 ± 0.41 μg mL-1) in mono-cultures. M. aeruginosa won in the co-cultures when phenol was below or equal to 20 μg mL-1, while C. pyrenoidosa became the dominant species in the 200 μg mL-1 treatment. Photosynthetic activity was measured by a fluometer. Results showed phenol significantly impacted the photosynthetic activity of M. aeruginosa by inhibiting the acceptor side of its photosystem II (PSII), while such inhibition in C. pyrenoidosa was only observed in the highest phenol treatment (200 μg mL-1). This study provides a better understanding for predicting the succession of algal community structure in water bodies susceptible to phenolic contamination. Moreover, it reveals the mechanism on photosynthetic responses of these two species under phenolic stress.

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Grazer-induced morphological defense in Scenedesmus obliquus is affected by competition against Microcystis aeruginosa.

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