title: Animal-like prostaglandins in marine microalgae.
abstract: Diatoms are among the most successful primary producers in ocean and freshwater environments. Deriving from a secondary endosymbiotic event, diatoms have a mixed genome containing bacterial, animal and plant genes encoding for metabolic pathways that may account for their evolutionary success. Studying the transcriptomes of two strains of the diatom Skeletonema marinoi, we report, for the first time in microalgae, an active animal-like prostaglandin pathway that is differentially expressed in the two strains. Prostaglandins are hormone-like mediators in many physiological and pathological processes in mammals, playing a pivotal role in inflammatory responses. They are also present in macroalgae and invertebrates, where they act as defense and communication mediators. The occurrence of animal-like prostaglandins in unicellular photosynthetic eukaryotes opens up new intriguing perspectives on the evolution and role of these molecules in the marine environment as possible mediators in cell-to-cell signaling, eventually influencing population dynamics in the plankton.
authors.affiliation: Department of Integrative Marine Ecology, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: Valeria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Di Dato
authors.affiliation: Department of Integrative Marine Ecology, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: Ida
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Orefice
authors.affiliation: Department of Integrative Marine Ecology, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Amato
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università degli Studi di Napoli, Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: Carolina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fontanarosa
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università degli Studi di Napoli, Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Amoresano
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Chimica Biomolecolare-CNR, Pozzuoli, Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: Adele
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cutignano
authors.affiliation: Department of Integrative Marine Ecology, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: Adrianna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ianora
authors.affiliation: Department of Integrative Marine Ecology, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanna
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-4898-7153
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Romano
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017377:Diatoms / Q000378:metabolism*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000502:physiology; D058086:Microalgae / Q000378:metabolism*; D010788:Photosynthesis; D011453:Prostaglandins / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D011453:Prostaglandins