TY - JOUR
T1 - GPCR Genes as Activators of Surface Colonization Pathways in a Model Marine Diatom
AU - Fu, Weiqi
AU - Chaiboonchoe, Amphun
AU - Dohai, Bushra
AU - Sultana, Mehar
AU - Baffour, Kristos
AU - Alzahmi, Amnah
AU - Weston, James
AU - Al Khairy, Dina
AU - Daakour, Sarah
AU - Jaiswal, Ashish
AU - Nelson, David R.
AU - Mystikou, Alexandra
AU - Brynjolfsson, Sigurdur
AU - Salehi-Ashtiani, Kourosh
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding: Financial support for this work was provided by New York University Abu Dhabi Faculty Research Funds ( AD060 ) and NYUAD Institute grant ( 73 71210 CGSB9 ). W.F. was additionally supported by the Icelandic Technology Development Fund ( 163922-0611 ). The authors thank Kenan S. Jijakli and Joseph Koussa for editing and comments on the generation of several figures. We thank the NYU Abu Dhabi Core Technology Platforms (CTP) and NYUAD Bioinformatics Core for assistance. We thank Marc Arnoux and Nizar Drou for help with high throughput sequencing and analysis.
Funding Information:
Funding: Financial support for this work was provided by New York University Abu Dhabi Faculty Research Funds (AD060) and NYUAD Institute grant (73 71210 CGSB9). W.F. was additionally supported by the Icelandic Technology Development Fund (163922-0611). The authors thank Kenan S. Jijakli and Joseph Koussa for editing and comments on the generation of several figures. We thank the NYU Abu Dhabi Core Technology Platforms (CTP) and NYUAD Bioinformatics Core for assistance. We thank Marc Arnoux and Nizar Drou for help with high throughput sequencing and analysis. W.F. and K.S.-A. designed the research and wrote the paper. W.F. performed the laboratory experiments, including vector construction, transformation, and strain validation, and analyzed the data. W.F. A.C. B.D. and A.J. performed transcriptome analysis. M.S. performed confocal microscopy experiments. W.F. and K.B. conducted morphotype analyses. W.F. and J.W. conducted scanning electron microscopic analyses. W.F. and M.S. performed the RNA-seq experiments. W.F. D.A.-K. S.D. A.M. and A.A. contributed to strain screening and PCR verification. J.W. carried out scanning electron microscopic imaging of diatom samples. All authors contributed to the editing of the manuscript. The authors declare no competing financial interests.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Authors
PY - 2020/8/21
Y1 - 2020/8/21
N2 - Surface colonization allows diatoms, a dominant group of phytoplankton in oceans, to adapt to harsh marine environments while mediating biofoulings to human-made underwater facilities. The regulatory pathways underlying diatom surface colonization, which involves morphotype switching in some species, remain mostly unknown. Here, we describe the identification of 61 signaling genes, including G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) and protein kinases, which are differentially regulated during surface colonization in the model diatom species, Phaeodactylum tricornutum. We show that the transformation of P. tricornutum with constructs expressing individual GPCR genes induces cells to adopt the surface colonization morphology. P. tricornutum cells transformed to express GPCR1A display 30% more resistance to UV light exposure than their non-biofouling wild-type counterparts, consistent with increased silicification of cell walls associated with the oval biofouling morphotype. Our results provide a mechanistic definition of morphological shifts during surface colonization and identify candidate target proteins for the screening of eco-friendly, anti-biofouling molecules.
AB - Surface colonization allows diatoms, a dominant group of phytoplankton in oceans, to adapt to harsh marine environments while mediating biofoulings to human-made underwater facilities. The regulatory pathways underlying diatom surface colonization, which involves morphotype switching in some species, remain mostly unknown. Here, we describe the identification of 61 signaling genes, including G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) and protein kinases, which are differentially regulated during surface colonization in the model diatom species, Phaeodactylum tricornutum. We show that the transformation of P. tricornutum with constructs expressing individual GPCR genes induces cells to adopt the surface colonization morphology. P. tricornutum cells transformed to express GPCR1A display 30% more resistance to UV light exposure than their non-biofouling wild-type counterparts, consistent with increased silicification of cell walls associated with the oval biofouling morphotype. Our results provide a mechanistic definition of morphological shifts during surface colonization and identify candidate target proteins for the screening of eco-friendly, anti-biofouling molecules.
KW - Genetics
KW - Microbiology
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85089339444&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85089339444&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.isci.2020.101424
DO - 10.1016/j.isci.2020.101424
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85089339444
SN - 2589-0042
VL - 23
JO - iScience
JF - iScience
IS - 8
M1 - 101424
ER -