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Transcriptional Regulation of Select Light-Harvesting Genes during Photoacclimation in Lympha mucosa gen. et sp. prov. (Batrachospermales, Rhodophyta)

Evans, Joshua R.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1501068045787163

Abstract Details

2017, Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, Plant Biology (Arts and Sciences).
The strictly freshwater red algal order Batrachospermales has undergone numerous taxonomic rearrangements in the recent past to rectify the paraphyly of its largest genus Batrachospermum. These systematic investigations have led to the description of new genera and species as well as re-circumscription of some taxa. Specimens collected from two locations in southeastern USA were initially identified as being allied to Batrachospermum sensu lato, but could not be assigned to any previously described species. Comparison of DNA sequence data for two gene regions and morphology with other batrachospermalean taxa resulted in the proposal of a new monospecific genus Lympha mucosa gen. et sp. prov. to accommodate these specimens. A phylogeny of L. mucosa showed it is sister to the genus Volatus, but has morphological similarities with Batrachospermum sections Turfosa and Virescentia. This new taxon adds to the freshwater red algal diversity of southeastern USA, a region already known for biodiversity and high endemism of the aquatic flora and fauna. Lympha mucosa occurs in open and shaded sites of temperate streams and is abundant during summer months. Although most freshwater red algal taxa are considered shade-adapted, many species exhibit differences in photosynthetic rates and characteristics that indicate they have a much greater ability to acclimate to higher irradiances. Specimens of L. mucosa were collected from open (sun-acclimated) or shaded (shade-acclimated) sites and were exposed to low (<20 µmol photon m-2 s-1) or high (220 µmol photon m-2 s-1) for 72h in controlled conditions to examine photoacclimation. To observe regulation for this process at the transcriptional level, the L. mucosa plastid genome was assembled to provide sequence data for photosynthetic genes involved with light harvesting machinery. Of the six light-harvesting genes selected, two involved with photosystem I and one involved with phycoerythrin synthesis were downregulated at high light. This is the first evidence of transcriptional regulation as a potential mechanism for acclimation to varying irradiances in a freshwater red alga.
Morgan Vis (Advisor)
Sarah Wyatt (Committee Member)
Harvey Ballard (Committee Member)
98 p.
Aquatic Sciences; Bioinformatics; Biology; Biostatistics; Ecology; Evolution and Development; Experiments; Freshwater Ecology; Genetics; Molecular Biology; Organismal Biology; Plant Biology; Plant Sciences; Systematic
photoacclimation; red algae; gene expression; aquatic biology; phylogeny; photosynthesis

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Evans, J. R. (2017). Transcriptional Regulation of Select Light-Harvesting Genes during Photoacclimation in Lympha mucosa gen. et sp. prov. (Batrachospermales, Rhodophyta) [Master's thesis, Ohio University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1501068045787163

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Evans, Joshua. Transcriptional Regulation of Select Light-Harvesting Genes during Photoacclimation in Lympha mucosa gen. et sp. prov. (Batrachospermales, Rhodophyta) . 2017. Ohio University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1501068045787163.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Evans, Joshua. "Transcriptional Regulation of Select Light-Harvesting Genes during Photoacclimation in Lympha mucosa gen. et sp. prov. (Batrachospermales, Rhodophyta) ." Master's thesis, Ohio University, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1501068045787163

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ohiou1501068045787163
326
© 2017, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License Transcriptional Regulation of Select Light-Harvesting Genes during Photoacclimation in Lympha mucosa gen. et sp. prov. (Batrachospermales, Rhodophyta) by Joshua R. Evans is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by Ohio University and OhioLINK.
Release 3.2.12