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Transcriptome analyses to investigate symbiotic relationships between marine protists
Sergio Balzano1, Erwan Corre2, Johan Decelle1
1UMR 7144, Université Pierre et Marie Curie Université Paris 06, Sorbonne Universités, Station Biologique de Roscoff Roscoff, France ; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UMR 7144, Station Biologique de Roscoff Roscoff, France.
Frontiers in Microbiology
|April 9, 2015
Summary
Rhizaria plankton form crucial oceanic photosymbioses. Researchers identified c-type lectin domains in symbiotic Rhizaria, suggesting their role in host-symbiont recognition, similar to other marine photosymbioses.
Area of Science:
- Marine biology
- Microbiology
- Genomics
Background:
- Rhizaria are vital oceanic plankton, with many species hosting microalgal symbionts essential for survival.
- The mechanisms governing these crucial photosymbioses in Rhizaria remain largely unknown.
- Understanding these interactions is key to comprehending oceanic ecosystem dynamics.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the genetic basis of symbiotic interactions in uncultured Rhizaria.
- To identify genes potentially involved in host-symbiont recognition within these planktonic communities.
- To compare gene expression between symbiotic and non-symbiotic Rhizaria species.
Main Methods:
- Utilized 454 high-throughput sequencing to generate Expressed Sequence Tag (EST) datasets from four Rhizaria species.
- Analyzed holobiont transcriptomes to identify genetic features of host/symbiont consortia.
- Focused on identifying c-type lectin-coding genes (CTLDs) for their role in cell recognition.
Main Results:
- Diverse bacterial and protist rRNA sequences were detected in all holobiont samples, indicating associated microbial communities.
- Putative c-type lectin domain (CTLD) unigenes were found in photosynthetic Rhizaria (A. elongata, Collozoum sp., S. streptacantha) but not in the non-symbiotic A. scolymantha.
- Phylogenetic analysis revealed distinct clustering of CTLDs, with some containing carbohydrate-binding motifs characteristic of marine photosymbiosis.
Conclusions:
- The presence of CTLDs in symbiotic Rhizaria suggests their involvement in host-symbiont recognition.
- Glycan interactions with c-type lectins likely modulate specific recognition in Radiolaria photosymbiosis.
- These findings provide insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying symbiosis in important oceanic plankton.
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