title: The main nitrate transporter of the dinoflagellate Lingulodinium polyedrum is constitutively expressed and not responsible for daily variations in nitrate uptake rates.
abstract: Dinoflagellates are unicellular eukaryotes capable of forming spectacular harmful algal blooms (HABs). Eutrophication of coastal waters by fertilizer runoff, nitrate in particular, has contributed to recent increases in the frequency, magnitude and geographic extent of HABs. Although physiological nitrate uptake and assimilation in dinoflagellates have often been measured in the field and in the laboratory, no molecular components involved in nitrate transport have yet been reported. This study reports the first identification and characterization of dinoflagellate nitrate transporters, found in the transcriptome of the bloom-forming Lingulodinium polyedrum. Of the 23 putative transporters found by BLAST searches, only members of the nitrate transporter 2 (NRT2) family contained all key amino acids known to be essential for nitrate transport. The dinoflagellate NRT2 sequences have 12 predicted transmembrane domains, as do the NRT2 sequences of bacteria, plants and fungi. The NRT2 sequences in Lingulodinium appear to have two different evolutionary origins, as determined by phylogenetic analyses. The most expressed transcript of all putative nitrate transporters was determined by RNA-Seq to be LpNRT2.1. An antibody raised against this transporter showed that the same amount of protein was found at different times over the light dark cycle and with different sources of N. Finally, global nitrate uptake was assessed using a15N tracer, which showed that the process was not under circadian-control as previously suggested, but simply light-regulated.
authors.affiliation: Institut de Recherche en Biologie Végétale, Département de Sciences Biologiques, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada H1X 2B2.
authors.forename: Steve
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dagenais Bellefeuille
authors.affiliation: Institut de Recherche en Biologie Végétale, Département de Sciences Biologiques, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada H1X 2B2. Electronic address: david.morse@umontreal.ca.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Morse
mesh_terms: D027321:Anion Transport Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D004141:Dinoflagellida / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D000091285:Nitrate Transporters; D009566:Nitrates / Q000378:metabolism*; D010802:Phylogeny
chemical_list: D027321:Anion Transport Proteins; D000091285:Nitrate Transporters; D009566:Nitrates
keywords: Circadian clock; Diurnal rhythm; Lingulodinium polyedrum; NRT2; Nitrate transporters; Nitrate uptake