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Article

Surviving Starvation: Proteomic and Lipidomic Profiling of Nutrient Deprivation in the Smallest Known Free-Living Eukaryote

1
Kinetic Parameter Facility, SynthSys—Synthetic and Systems Biology, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3BD, UK
2
Lipidomics Research Facility, University of the Highlands and Islands, Inverness IV2 3JH, UK
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
These authors contributed equally to this work.
Both principal investigators of this study.
Metabolites 2020, 10(7), 273; https://doi.org/10.3390/metabo10070273
Received: 1 April 2020 / Revised: 17 June 2020 / Accepted: 27 June 2020 / Published: 3 July 2020
Marine phytoplankton, comprising cyanobacteria, micro- and pico-algae are key to photosynthesis, oxygen production and carbon assimilation on Earth. The unicellular green picoalga Ostreococcus tauri holds a key position at the base of the green lineage of plants, which makes it an interesting model organism. O. tauri has adapted to survive in low levels of nitrogen and phosphorus in the open ocean and also during rapid changes in the levels of these nutrients in coastal waters. In this study, we have employed untargeted proteomic and lipidomic strategies to investigate the molecular responses of O. tauri to low-nitrogen and low-phosphorus environments. In the absence of external nitrogen, there was an elevation in the expression of ammonia and urea transporter proteins together with an accumulation of triglycerides. In phosphate-limiting conditions, the expression levels of phosphokinases and phosphate transporters were increased, indicating an attempt to maximise scavenging opportunities as opposed to energy conservation conditions. The production of betaine lipids was also elevated, highlighting a shift away from phospholipid metabolism. This finding was supported by the putative identification of betaine synthase in O. tauri. This work offers additional perspectives on the complex strategies that underpin the adaptive processes of the smallest known free-living eukaryote to alterations in environmental conditions. View Full-Text
Keywords: algae; lipid metabolism; nitrogen; Ostreococcus tauri; phosphorus; proteome algae; lipid metabolism; nitrogen; Ostreococcus tauri; phosphorus; proteome
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MDPI and ACS Style

Martin, S.F.; Doherty, M.K.; Salvo-Chirnside, E.; Tammireddy, S.R.; Liu, J.; Le Bihan, T.; Whitfield, P.D. Surviving Starvation: Proteomic and Lipidomic Profiling of Nutrient Deprivation in the Smallest Known Free-Living Eukaryote. Metabolites 2020, 10, 273. https://doi.org/10.3390/metabo10070273

AMA Style

Martin SF, Doherty MK, Salvo-Chirnside E, Tammireddy SR, Liu J, Le Bihan T, Whitfield PD. Surviving Starvation: Proteomic and Lipidomic Profiling of Nutrient Deprivation in the Smallest Known Free-Living Eukaryote. Metabolites. 2020; 10(7):273. https://doi.org/10.3390/metabo10070273

Chicago/Turabian Style

Martin, Sarah F., Mary K. Doherty, Eliane Salvo-Chirnside, Seshu R. Tammireddy, Jiaxiuyu Liu, Thierry Le Bihan, and Phillip D. Whitfield. 2020. "Surviving Starvation: Proteomic and Lipidomic Profiling of Nutrient Deprivation in the Smallest Known Free-Living Eukaryote" Metabolites 10, no. 7: 273. https://doi.org/10.3390/metabo10070273

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