Article
Plant Sciences
Yacine Badis, Delphine Scornet, Minori Harada, Celine Caillard, Olivier Godfroy, Morgane Raphalen, Claire M. M. Gachon, Susana M. Coelho, Taizo Motomura, Chikako Nagasato, J. Mark Cock
Summary: Mutations at specific target sites can be generated in Ectocarpus cells following the introduction of CRISPR-Cas9 ribonucleoproteins, providing a potentially useful reverse genetics tool for studying diverse aspects of brown algal biology. This methodology has the potential to enhance the utility of Ectocarpus as a model organism and could be transferable to other brown algal species.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Benedicte Charrier, Samuel Boscq, Bradley J. Nelson, Nino F. Laubli
Summary: Monitoring the growth pattern of the brown alga Ectocarpus inside PDMS lab-on-chips showed similar development steps in microfluidic environment compared to non-constrained in vitro conditions. Additionally, labeling of Ectocarpus cell wall polysaccharides and immunolocalisation displayed expected patterns similar to open space growth when evaluated with epifluorescence or confocal microscopy. This study provides a basis for future biochemical and biological research on brown algal growth using microfluidic technology.
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Simon Bourdareau, Leila Tirichine, Berangere Lombard, Damarys Loew, Delphine Scornet, Yue Wu, Susana M. Coelho, J. Mark Cock
Summary: The study identified 47 histone post-translational modifications in brown algae, including a novel mark H2AZR38me1, while lacking H3K27me3 and major polycomb complexes. The findings show stable patterns of histone modifications throughout the life cycle, with specific chromatin marks correlating with gene expression levels. This overview sets a foundation for future research on chromatin modifications in regulating brown algal genomes.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Yana Y. Toporkova, Elena O. Smirnova, Lucia S. Mukhtarova, Alexander N. Grechkin
Summary: This study identified CYP5164A3 as the first hydroperoxide bicyclase in brown algae, which plays a crucial role in the biosynthesis of heterobicyclic oxylipins like hybridalactone, ecklonilactones, and related natural products.
BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA-MOLECULAR AND CELL BIOLOGY OF LIPIDS
(2022)
Article
Developmental Biology
Olivier Godfroy, Min Zheng, Haiqin Yao, Agnes Henschen, Akira F. Peters, Delphine Scornet, Sebastien Colin, Paolo Ronchi, Katharina Hipp, Chikako Nagasato, Taizo Motomura, J. Mark Cock, Susana M. Coelho
Summary: The first mitotic division of the initial cell plays a crucial role in establishing developmental axes and cell fates in multicellular organisms. The brown alga Ectocarpus has a unique life cycle involving two generations, and mutations in the BASELESS (BAS) gene lead to defects in cell division and failure to produce basal structures in both generations. BAS encodes a regulatory subunit of protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A), and transcriptomic analysis identified potential effector genes in determining basal cell fate. The findings suggest that PP2A and TBCCd1 are essential components in regulating the first cell division and basal cell fate determination.
Article
Fisheries
Huiru Li, Hawon Kim, Kyoungsoon Shin, Bonggil Hyun, Young Sik Kim, Ju-Hyoung Kim
Summary: In this study, the brown filamentous endophytic macroalgae Ectocarpus siliculosus was isolated from Gracilaria textorii, and its growth and reproduction capability under different environmental conditions were investigated. The results showed that optimal temperature and light levels could stimulate the rapid growth and reproduction of Ectocarpus siliculosus.
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Pramod Rathor, Tudor Borza, Ramin Bahmani, Sophia Stone, Thierry Tonon, Svetlana Yurgel, Philippe Potin, Balakrishnan Prithiviraj
Summary: In this study, the brown alga Ectocarpus sp. was found to upregulate the expression of the Esi0379_0027 gene encoding a HSP70 protein in response to abiotic stresses. Bioinformatics analysis showed that the HSP70 protein is soluble, monomeric, and conserved compared to other organisms. Localization studies revealed that the EsHSP70 protein is located in the nucleus. Transgenic Arabidopsis plants expressing EsHSP70 under both constitutive and stress inducible promoters exhibited enhanced tolerance to salt stress and upregulation of stress-responsive genes. Overall, these findings suggest that the expression of EsHSP70 improves salt stress tolerance in Arabidopsis by upregulating stress-responsive genes.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYCOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Haiqin Yao, Delphine Scornet, Murielle Jam, Cecile Herve, Philippe Potin, Lydie Oliveira Correia, Susana M. Coelho, J. Mark Cock
Summary: The life cycle of the filamentous brown alga Ectocarpus involves alternation between sporophyte and gametophyte generations, with deployment of the sporophyte developmental program requiring specific transcription factors. The sporophyte generation secretes a diffusible factor that may belong to the arabinogalactan proteins family.
JOURNAL OF PHYCOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Maria Joao Ferreira, Jessy Silva, Sara Cristina Pinto, Silvia Coimbra
Summary: This study evaluated the expression stability of ten candidate reference genes in reproductive tissues of Arabidopsis thaliana. The results identified the optimal reference genes for gene expression studies in different flower developmental stages and mutant backgrounds. The findings provide a valuable resource for future gene expression studies in reproductive tissues of A. thaliana and emphasize the importance of clearly defining experimental conditions for qPCR analysis to improve reproducibility.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Ana Mijovilovich, Peter Cloetens, Antonio Lanzirotti, Matt Newville, Gerd Wellenreuther, Puja Kumari, Christos Katsaros, Carl J. Carrano, Hendrik Kupper, Frithjof C. Kupper
Summary: This study investigated the localization of iron in kelp and filamentous brown algae using microprobe and X-ray techniques. The results suggest that iron is stored in a non-ferritin core in kelp and co-localizes with zinc in filamentous brown algae. These findings have important implications for understanding the iron cycle in marine ecosystems and the iron storage mechanisms in algae.
Article
Biology
Jose Avila-Peltroche, Boo Yeon Won, Tae Oh Cho
Summary: This study tested the effect of 2-mercapthoethanol and antibiotic mixtures on cryopreservation using a low-tech passive rate cooler for Ectocarpus siliculosus and Acinetospora asiatica. Results showed that the treatment with PSC antibiotic mixture significantly increased post-thaw viability, while antioxidant treatment did not improve viability. The highest viabilities were achieved using 10% glycerol + 10% proline as the cryoprotectant solution.
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
Jiangen Wu, Yuanyuan Zheng, Chenxi Xu, Qiqi Jiao, Chenglong Ye, Tongtong Chen, Xiaoping Yu, Kun Pang, Peiying Hao
Summary: This study reveals the importance of transferrin genes NlTsf1, NlTsf2, and NlTsf3 in the interaction between rice and brown planthopper (BPH). RNAi treatment of NlTsf3 significantly reduces the egg production of BPH, while treatments of NlTsf1 and NlTsf2 also affect the survival rate of BPH.
JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD CHEMISTRY
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Medicinal
Gina De La Fuente, Marco Fontana, Valentina Asnaghi, Mariachiara Chiantore, Serena Mirata, Annalisa Salis, Gianluca Damonte, Sonia Scarfi
Summary: The bioactive compounds found in marine seaweeds, such as C. amentacea, have strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, making them potential ingredients for antiaging formulations and soothing lotions for damaged skin.
Article
Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science
Zhang Wang, Weihua Tian, Dandan Wang, Yulong Guo, Zhimin Cheng, Yanyan Zhang, Xinyan Li, Yihao Zhi, Donghua Li, Zhuanjian Li, Ruirui Jiang, Guoxi Li, Yadong Tian, Xiangtao Kang, Hong Li, Ian C. Dunn, Xiaojun Liu
Summary: This study identified key genes and dominant isoforms responsible for differences in muscle mass between slow-growing indigenous chicken and fast-growing commercial broiler, providing new insights into the regulatory mechanisms underlying breast muscle development in chicken. The analysis showed overlapping developmental axes between the two breeds at embryonic stages but separation at adult stages, along with a switching event of dominant isoforms at one week of age.
GENETICS SELECTION EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Entomology
Kaikai Mao, Zhijie Ren, Wenhao Li, Tingwei Cai, Xueying Qin, Hu Wan, Byung Rae Jin, Shun He, Jianhong Li
Summary: Carboxylesterases (CarEs) are an important detoxification enzyme family in insecticide resistance, with specific genes in the insect Nilaparvata lugens being identified and shown to be induced by various insecticides. Tissue-specific expression analysis showed certain CarE genes are highly expressed in the midgut and fat body, while others are more highly expressed in the head. The NlCarE1 gene was identified as a main candidate gene for nitenpyram resistance, with evidence suggesting a cooperative relationship with NlCarE19 in resistance formation. These findings provide a foundation for further understanding of insecticide resistance mediated by CarE in N. lugens.
Article
Plant Sciences
Haiqin Yao, Delphine Scornet, Murielle Jam, Cecile Herve, Philippe Potin, Lydie Oliveira Correia, Susana M. Coelho, J. Mark Cock
Summary: The life cycle of the filamentous brown alga Ectocarpus involves alternation between sporophyte and gametophyte generations, with deployment of the sporophyte developmental program requiring specific transcription factors. The sporophyte generation secretes a diffusible factor that may belong to the arabinogalactan proteins family.
JOURNAL OF PHYCOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Alexander Jueterbock, Antoine J. P. Minne, J. Mark Cock, Melinda A. Coleman, Thomas Wernberg, Lydia Scheschonk, Ralf Rautenberger, Jie Zhang, Zi-Min Hu
Summary: Marine macrophytes play a crucial role in coastal ecosystems, but face threats from climate change and other human-induced stressors. Studies suggest that priming these plants with heat stress may enhance their resilience to future temperature fluctuations.
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Svenja Heesch, Martha Serrano-Serrano, Josue Barrera-Redondo, Remy Luthringer, Akira F. Peters, Christophe Destombe, J. Mark Cock, Myriam Valero, Denis Roze, Nicolas Salamin, Susana M. Coelho
Summary: A study on the evolution of life cycles in brown algae revealed that diploid growth evolves when sexual reproduction is preferred over asexual reproduction. The research also found that haploid sex determination is ancestral to diploid sex determination, and isogamous species in brown algae evolved from anisogamous ancestors, contrary to the commonly reported pattern of evolution from isogamy to anisogamy.
JOURNAL OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Yacine Badis, Delphine Scornet, Minori Harada, Celine Caillard, Olivier Godfroy, Morgane Raphalen, Claire M. M. Gachon, Susana M. Coelho, Taizo Motomura, Chikako Nagasato, J. Mark Cock
Summary: Mutations at specific target sites can be generated in Ectocarpus cells following the introduction of CRISPR-Cas9 ribonucleoproteins, providing a potentially useful reverse genetics tool for studying diverse aspects of brown algal biology. This methodology has the potential to enhance the utility of Ectocarpus as a model organism and could be transferable to other brown algal species.
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Bertille Burgunter-Delamare, Gwenn Tanguy, Erwan Legeay, Catherine Boyen, Simon M. Dittami
Summary: Researchers tested two simple alternative methods for sampling microbial diversity associated with the kelp S. latissima: silica gel conservation of tissue and swab samples preserved in DNA/RNA shield solution. The results showed that both methods were effective in separating different microbiomes of algae, but differences were observed for rare genera and sequences, emphasizing the importance of including blank samples in silica gel-preserved samples.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Shingo Akita, Christophe Vieira, Takeaki Hanyuda, Florence Rousseau, Corinne Cruaud, Arnaud Couloux, Svenja Heesch, J. Mark Cock, Hiroshi Kawai
Summary: Analyses of nuclear protein-coding sequences in 39 Phaeophycean species belonging to eight orders provide significant support for resolving phylogenetic relationships within the studied taxa, confirming relationships seen in other sequences such as nuclear, chloroplast, and mitochondrial. This suggests that nuclear protein coding sequences may be a powerful approach to fully resolve interordinal relationships with increased taxon sampling.
MOLECULAR PHYLOGENETICS AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Josselin Gueno, Michael Borg, Simon Bourdareau, Guillaume Cossard, Olivier Godfroy, Agnieszka Lipinska, Leila Tirichine, J. Mark Cock, Susana M. Coelho
Summary: In many eukaryotes, sex is determined by UV sex chromosomes and is expressed during the haploid phase of the life cycle. The regulation of sex-biased gene expression during sexual differentiation remains unclear. This study investigates the epigenomic changes associated with UV sexual differentiation in the brown alga Ectocarpus, finding that chromatin signatures correlated with gene expression and histone PTMs changes occurred preferentially at sex-specific genes. The chromatin landscape of UV sex chromosomes differs from autosomes, likely driven by evolutionary young genes in the pseudoautosomal regions.
NUCLEIC ACIDS RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Guillaume G. Cossard, Olivier Godfroy, Zofia Nehr, Corinne Cruaud, J. Mark Cock, Agnieszka P. Lipinska, Susana M. Coelho
Summary: The study reveals that the transition to co-sexuality in brown algae involves adaptive gene expression changes and rapid sequence evolution. The gene expression profiles of co-sexual species are more similar to those of ancestral females rather than males. Convergent gene expression changes are associated with the transition to co-sexuality.
NATURE ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Charlotte Nef, Simon Dittami, Raymond Kaas, Enora Briand, Cyril Noel, Francis Mairet, Matthieu Garnier
Summary: Haptophyte microalgae play important roles in microbial communities, and their acquisition of vitamin B-12 was studied in this research. The results showed that although the microalgae can scavenge B-12 from bacterial extracts, co-cultivation with bacteria did not provide sufficient B-12. However, cultivating the microalgae with a complex bacterial consortium partially rescued its growth under vitamin-deprived conditions.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Hetty KleinJan, Clemence Frioux, Gianmaria Califano, Meziane Aite, Enora Fremy, Elham Karimi, Erwan Corre, Thomas Wichard, Anne Siegel, Catherine Boyen, Simon M. Dittami
Summary: Microbes can modify their hosts' stress tolerance, potentially enhancing their ecological range. The study found that salinity significantly impacted gene expression of bacteria and viruses in algal-bacterial communities, while host gene expression and metabolite profiles were mostly affected in freshwater-intolerant communities. There was no evidence of bacterial protein production directly improving algal stress tolerance, but vitamin K synthesis and microbial genes involved in the biosynthesis of autoinducer AI-1 were potentially missing in freshwater-intolerant cultures in low salinity.
Article
Plant Sciences
J. Mark Cock
JOURNAL OF PHYCOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Microbiology
Bertille Burgunter-Delamare, Sylvie Rousvoal, Erwan Legeay, Gwenn Tanguy, Stein Fredriksen, Catherine Boyen, Simon M. Dittami
Summary: This study investigated the bacterial community composition associated with S. latissima samples from three locations using 16S metabarcoding analyses. The results showed that the difference in bacterial composition is driven by factors such as algal tissues, geographical area, seasons, and algal hosts' condition. The dominant bacterial groups were Alphaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, and Bacteroidia, and several core genera were identified.
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Thomas Clerc, Samuel Boscq, Rafaele Attia, Gabriele S. Kaminski Schierle, Benedicte Charrier, Nino F. Laubli
Summary: The culturing and investigation of individual marine specimens in lab environments is crucial to further our understanding of this highly complex ecosystem. In this study, we explored the viability of a microfluidic device for the investigation of the growth of the alga Saccharina latissima. We evaluated the specimen's health and demonstrated its compatibility with state-of-the-art microscopy imaging technologies.
BIOENGINEERING-BASEL
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Victoria Dominguez Almela, Kwasi Appeaning Addo, Jack Corbett, Janice Cumberbatch, Jadu Dash, Robert Marsh, Hazel Oxenford, Thierry Tonon, Sien van der Plank, Mona Webber, Emma L. Tompkins
Summary: Climatic and anthropogenic changes have led to the emergence of new ecosystem and human health risks. This study examines the evidence of past adaptations to these risks and the scientific and policy processes that can minimize their impacts and identify opportunities. Using the case study of the proliferation of brown macroalgae in the tropical Atlantic, the study analyzes lessons learned from adaptive responses across three continents over a decade. Successes include the development of national management strategies and open-access knowledge hubs, while failures include the lack of environmental risk registries and a shared approach to manage the risk.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Simon Bourdareau, Olivier Godfroy, Josselin Gueno, Delphine Scornet, Susana M. Coelho, Leila Tirichine, J. Mark Cock
Summary: This article introduces a chromatin immunoprecipitation method for brown algal genomic research, which can reveal the importance of gene regulation in brown algae through the detection and analysis of post-translational modifications. It effectively addresses the challenge of extracting chromatin from cells protected by a resistant cell wall.
METHODS AND PROTOCOLS
(2022)