Adaptive responses of marine diatoms to zinc scarcity and ecological implications

© The Author(s), 2022. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Kellogg, R., Moosburner, M., Cohen, N., Hawco, N., McIlvin, M., Moran, D., DiTullio, G., Subhas, A., Allen, A., & Saito, M. Adaptive responses of marine diatoms to zinc scarcity and ecological implications. Nature Communications, 13(1), (2022): 1995, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-29603-y.
Scarce dissolved surface ocean concentrations of the essential algal micronutrient zinc suggest that Zn may influence the growth of phytoplankton such as diatoms, which are major contributors to marine primary productivity. However, the specific mechanisms by which diatoms acclimate to Zn deficiency are poorly understood. Using global proteomic analysis, we identified two proteins (ZCRP-A/B, Zn/Co Responsive Protein A/B) among four diatom species that became abundant under Zn/Co limitation. Characterization using reverse genetic techniques and homology data suggests putative Zn/Co chaperone and membrane-bound transport complex component roles for ZCRP-A (a COG0523 domain protein) and ZCRP-B, respectively. Metaproteomic detection of ZCRPs along a Pacific Ocean transect revealed increased abundances at the surface (<200 m) where dZn and dCo were scarcest, implying Zn nutritional stress in marine algae is more prevalent than previously recognized. These results demonstrate multiple adaptive responses to Zn scarcity in marine diatoms that are deployed in low Zn regions of the Pacific Ocean.
This work was funded by the National Science Foundation (OCE-1736599 and OCE-1657766), NIH (R01GM135709), Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (GBMF3782) to M.A.S., and Simons Foundation award 544236 to N.R.C. This work was further supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF-OCE-1756884 and NSF-MCB-1818390), United States Department of Energy (DE-SC0018344), and Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation grants GBMF3828 and GBMF5006 to A.E.A.