| Title: | The chemical cue tetrabromopyrrole induces rapid cellular stress and mortality in phytoplankton |
| Author(s): | Whalen KE; Kirby C; Nicholson RM; O'Reilly M; Moore BS; Harvey EL; |
| Address: | "Department of Biology, Haverford College, Haverford, PA, USA. kwhalen1@haverford.edu. Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, University of Georgia, Savannah, GA, USA. Department of Biology, Haverford College, Haverford, PA, USA. Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA. Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, University of Georgia, Savannah, GA, USA. elizabeth.harvey@skio.uga.edu" |
| DOI: | 10.1038/s41598-018-33945-3 |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 2045-2322 (Electronic) 2045-2322 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Eukaryotic phytoplankton contribute to the flow of elements through marine food webs, biogeochemical cycles, and Earth's climate. Therefore, how phytoplankton die is a critical determinate of the flow and fate of nutrients. While heterotroph grazing and viral infection contribute to phytoplankton mortality, recent evidence suggests that bacteria-derived cues also control phytoplankton lysis. Here, we report exposure to nanomolar concentrations of 2,3,4,5-tetrabromopyrrole (TBP), a brominated chemical cue synthesized by marine gamma-proteobacteria, resulted in mortality of seven phylogenetically-diverse phytoplankton species. A comparison of nine compounds of marine-origin containing a range of cyclic moieties and halogenation indicated that both a single pyrrole ring and increased bromination were most lethal to the coccolithophore, Emiliania huxleyi. TBP also rapidly induced the production of reactive oxygen species and the release of intracellular calcium stores, both of which can trigger the activation of cellular death pathways. Mining of the Ocean Gene Atlas indicated that TBP biosynthetic machinery is globally distributed throughout the water column in coastal areas. These findings suggest that bacterial cues play multiple functions in regulating phytoplankton communities by inducing biochemical changes associated with cellular death. Chemically-induced lysis by bacterial infochemicals is yet another variable that must be considered when modeling oceanic nutrient dynamics" |
| Keywords: | "Bacteria/genetics Biosynthetic Pathways/genetics Calcium/metabolism Genes, Bacterial Halogens/metabolism Haptophyta/metabolism Inhibitory Concentration 50 Phytoplankton/drug effects/*physiology Pyrroles/*metabolism/toxicity Reactive Oxygen Species/metabol;" |
| Notes: | "MedlineWhalen, Kristen E Kirby, Christopher Nicholson, Russell M O'Reilly, Mia Moore, Bradley S Harvey, Elizabeth L eng OCE-1657808/National Science Foundation (NSF)/International R21 AI119311/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ P01 ES021921/ES/NIEHS NIH HHS/ OCE-1313747/National Science Foundation (NSF)/International Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S. England 2018/10/21 Sci Rep. 2018 Oct 19; 8(1):15498. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-33945-3" |
