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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, December 2005, p. 8744-8751, Vol. 71, No. 12
0099-2240/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.71.12.8744-8751.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Cooccurrence of ScDSP Gene Expression, Cell Death, and DNA Fragmentation in a Marine Diatom, Skeletonema costatum

Chih-Ching Chung,1 Sheng-Ping L. Hwang,2 and Jeng Chang1*

Institute of Marine Biology, National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung 20224, Taiwan, Republic of China,1 Institute of Cellular and Organismic Biology, Academia Sinica, Nankang, Taipei 11529, Taiwan, Republic of China2

Received 18 April 2005/ Accepted 10 August 2005

A novel death-specific gene, ScDSP, was obtained from a death stage subtraction cDNA library of the diatom Skeletonema costatum. The full length of ScDSP cDNA was 921 bp in length, containing a 699-bp open reading frame encoding 232 amino acids and two stretches of 66 and 156 bp in the 5' and 3' untranslated regions, respectively. Analysis of the peptide structure revealed that ScDSP contained a signal peptide domain, a transmembrane domain, and a pair of EF-hand motifs. When S. costatum grew exponentially at a rate of 1.3 day–1, the ScDSP mRNA level was at 2 µmol · mole 18S rRNA–1. In contrast, when the culture entered the death phase with a growth rate decreasing to 0.5 day–1, ScDSP mRNA increased dramatically to 668 µmol · mole 18S rRNA–1, and a high degree of DNA fragmentation was simultaneously observed. Under the influence of a light-dark cycle, ScDSP expression in both exponential and stationary phases clearly showed a diel rhythm, but the daily mean mRNA level was significantly higher in the stationary phase. Our results suggest that ScDSP may play a role in the molecular mechanism of self-destructive autolysis in phytoplankton under stress.

* 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.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, December 2005, p. 8744-8751, Vol. 71, No. 12
0099-2240/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.71.12.8744-8751.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Chung, C.-C., Hwang, S.-P. L., Chang, J. (2008). 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. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 74: 6521-6527 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Bidle, K. D., Bender, S. J. (2008). Iron Starvation and Culture Age Activate Metacaspases and Programmed Cell Death in the Marine Diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana. Eukaryot Cell 7: 223-236 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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