Abstract
The effects of Ca2+ and Mg2+ on cellular growth and calcification in Pleurochrysis haptonemofera were investigated. In the presence of a normal concentration of Mg2+, coccolith-bearing cells (C-cells) required more than 0.5 mM Ca2+ for growth, while naked cells could grow even with 0.5 mM Ca2+. The calcification rate of C-cells, which was determined using decalcified cells, was significantly repressed with less than or equal to 0.5 mM Ca2+. Although the calcification rate did not change so much with 5–30 mM Ca2+, it decreased with higher concentrations of Ca2+, as well as C-cell-specific growth repression. Under these conditions, Ca2+ affected the rate of coccolith formation, but neither the coccolith morphology nor total amounts and ratios of divalent cations and acidic polysaccharides (Ph-PS-1, -2, and -3) were included in coccoliths. These findings suggest that sufficient calcification is required for the division of C-cells. Under low Ca2+ and high Mg2+ conditions, coccoliths with an abnormal morphology, having immature shield elements, were synthesized. Composition analysis of the coccoliths revealed high Mg/Ca and low Ph-PS-2/(Ph-PS-1 and -3) ratios, as compared with those under low Ca2+ and normal Mg2+ conditions, suggesting that the abnormal morphology is due to a change in the crystal type and/or acidic polysaccharide composition.
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Acknowledgements
The authors thank Drs. I. Inouye and M. Kawachi of Tsukuba University, Japan, for kindly providing the P. haptonemofera cells, for Mr. K. Suda and Drs. E. Asamizu, D. Shibata, and S. Tabata of Kazusa DNA Research Institute, Japan, for kindly supporting cDNA macroarray analyses, and Messrs. S. Miyashita and Y. Arai and Drs. T. Kaise and T. Uchida of Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Sciences, Japan, for the helpful support. This work was supported by a Grant-in-Aid from the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture, Japan (20570059) and the Promotion and Mutual Aid Corporation for Private Schools.
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Fumio Katagiri and Yukiko Takatsuka contributed equally to this work.
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Katagiri, F., Takatsuka, Y., Fujiwara, S. et al. Effects of Ca and Mg on Growth and Calcification of the Coccolithophorid Pleurochrysis haptonemofera: Ca Requirement for Cell Division in Coccolith-Bearing Cells and for Normal Coccolith Formation with Acidic Polysaccharides. Mar Biotechnol 12, 42–51 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10126-009-9198-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10126-009-9198-x