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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, November 2008, p. 6521-6527, Vol. 74, No. 21
0099-2240/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.01481-08
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Nitric Oxide as a Signaling Factor To Upregulate the Death-Specific Protein in a Marine Diatom, Skeletonema costatum, during Blockage of Electron Flow in Photosynthesis{triangledown}

Chih-Ching Chung,1,2 Sheng-Ping L. Hwang,3 and Jeng Chang2,4*

Center for Marine Bioscience and Biotechnology, National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung 20224, Taiwan, Republic of China,1 Institute of Marine Environmental Chemistry and Ecology, National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung 20224, Taiwan, Republic of China,2 Institute of Cellular and Organismic Biology, Academia Sinica, Nankang, Taipei 11529, Taiwan, Republic of China,3 Institute of Marine Biology, National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung 20224, Taiwan, Republic of China4

Received 2 July 2008/ Accepted 26 August 2008

To determine the physiological functions of a novel death-specific protein gene, Skeletonema costatum DSP-1 (ScDSP-1) in a marine diatom, Skeletonema costatum, the mRNA abundance of ScDSP-1 was measured in cultures subjected to light manipulation and treatments with various chemicals. When cells were transferred to a dim light intensity of 15 µmol m–2 s–1, ScDSP-1 mRNA levels showed a transient increase of 1 to 17.2 µmol (mol 18S rRNA)–1 in 60 h. Furthermore, treatments with the photoinhibitors 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea (DCMU) and 2,5-dibromo-3-methyl-6-isopropyl-p-benzoquinone (DBMIB) resulted in high ScDSP-1 mRNA levels, which reached 943 and 72 µmol (mol 18S rRNA)–1, respectively. Treatment with the nitric oxide (NO) donor diethylamine nitric oxide also induced ScDSP-1 expression, and this inducible expression was inhibited by the NO scavenger hemoglobin. Additionally, the expression of ScDSP-1 mRNA elicited by DCMU and DBMIB was efficiently reduced when cultures were pretreated with the cell-penetrating NO scavenger 2-(4-carboxyphenyl)-4,5-dihydro-4,4,5,5-tetramethylimidazoline-1-oxyl-3-oxide. In contrast, treatment with another photoinhibitor, paraquat, had no effect on ScDSP-1 expression. Our results indicated that NO is the crucial secondary messenger which signals the expression of ScDSP-1 when electron flow between photosystem II and photosystem I is blocked in S. costatum cells. In addition, the discovery of a similar gene, ScDSP-2, is briefly described.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Institute of Marine Biology, National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung 20224, Taiwan, Republic of China. Phone: 886-2-2462-2192, ext. 5308. Fax: 886-2-2463-3152. E-mail: jengchang{at}mail.ntou.edu.tw

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 5 September 2008.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, November 2008, p. 6521-6527, Vol. 74, No. 21
0099-2240/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.01481-08
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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