Photosynthetic and transcriptional responses of the marine diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana to the combined effect of temperature stress and copper exposure

Priscilla T.Y. Leung*, Andy Xianliang Yi , Jack C.H. Ip, Sarah S.T. Mak, Kenneth M.Y. Leung

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

29 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A 96-h exposure experiment was conducted to elucidate the toxicity responses of the marine diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana upon exposure to different temperatures and copper (Cu) concentrations. Three Cu treatments (seawater control; 200 μg/L Cu, EC50 for the yield at 25 °C; and 1000 μg/L Cu, EC50 for growth inhibition at 25 °C) were conducted against four temperatures (10 °C, 15 °C, 25 °C and 30 °C). Growth rate and photosynthetic responses showed a significant interacting thermal-chemical effect with strong synergistic responses observed at 30 °C treatments. Expression of heat shock protein (hsp) was positively modulated by increasing temperatures. Hsp 90, hsp90–2 and sit1 (related to silica shell formation) were highly expressed at 30 °C under 1000 μg/L Cu, while the genes encoding light harvesting proteins (3HfcpA and 3HfcpB) and silaffin precursor sil3 were significantly up-regulated at 15 °C under 200 μg/L Cu. Our results indicated an increase Cu toxicity to T. pseudonana under high temperature and Cu dose.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)938-945
Number of pages8
JournalMarine Pollution Bulletin
Volume124
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 30 Nov 2017

User-Defined Keywords

  • Copper
  • Marine diatom
  • Thermal stress
  • Thalassiosira
  • Photosynthesis
  • Heat shock protein

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