Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Albuquerque 2001

PC13 Phytoplankton: Trace Metals and Biochemistry

Date: Thursday, February 15, 2001

Location: Southwest Hall

Davis, A, K, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA, akdavis@ucsd.edu

Palenik, B, P, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA, bpalenik@ucsd.edu

CELL SURFACE PROTEINS INDUCED BY COPPER TOXICITY IN THE MARINE DIATOMS THALASSIOSIRA PSEUDONANA AND CYLINDROTHECA FUSIFORMIS

Copper pollution is a significant problem in the coastal marine environment. Harbors and estuaries are particularly impacted by inputs such as wastewater runoff and anti-fouling paint on boats. Typically in seawater, copper is strongly complexed by organic ligands reducing its biological availability and making it difficult to predict its biological effects. In order to address the biological availability of copper to diatoms, cell-surface proteins have been identified as markers for the organism's exposure to copper. These proteins were observed by labeling cell surface proteins with succinimidyl 6-(biotinamido) hexanoate (SBH), extracting the proteins, and performing western blots. Three cell-surface proteins have been identified in the marine centric diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana and two cell-surface proteins have been identified in the pennate diatom Cylindrotheca fusiformis when cultures were copper shocked, but not in control, zinc, or cadmium shocked cultures. Additionally, cell concentration dependent enhancement of copper toxicity has been demonstrated for T. pseudonana. Ultimately, polyclonal antibodies could be developed against these proteins and used as probes to detect copper stressed diatoms in the environment.

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Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Albuquerque 2001

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