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Transcriptome analysis of the toxicity response of green macroalga Caulerpa lentillifera J. Agardh to high dissolved arsenite

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Abstract

Arsenic (As) is a hazardous pollutant that negatively impacts the physiological functions of alga. So far, a detailed understanding of algal response to As stress is still lacking. In this study, a transcriptome analysis was performed to illustrate the toxicity response of Caulerpa lentillifera J. Agardh, an edible algae with rich nutrition, to arsenite [As(III)], a toxic form of As. Totally, 1913 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were screened, of which 642 were up- and 1271 were downregulated in C. lentillifera under As(III) stress (30 mg·L–1) compared with control. As(III) stress promoted the growth of C. lentillifera at low concentration (0.1 mg·L–1) and inhibited the growth at high concentration (≥ 0.5 mg·L–1). Multiple DEGs involved in oxidoreductase activities were significantly affected by As(III), and several DEGs related to antioxidant enzyme activity were downregulated, resulting in suffering from oxidative stress in C. lentillifera. Results also showed that As(III) stress inhibited chlorophyll and carotenoid synthesis, destroyed the integrity of chloroplasts, and interfered with the absorption of light energy, thereby inhibiting photosynthesis in C. lentillifera. The highly enriched ABC transporter-related genes involved in the detoxification process were upregulated under As(III) stress, indicating their critical role in the resistance to As stress in C. lentillifera. The gene expressions for 10 selected DEGs were confirmed by qRT-PCR, showing the reliability of the data revealed by RNA sequencing. Our novel work illustrated the toxicity of C. lentillifera under As(III) stress at the molecular level, serving as a basis for future investigations on the prevention and treatment of such pollutants.

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Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the funds (JCYJ20170818140317993) received from Shenzhen Science and Technology Project “Studies on cultivation ecology of macroalgae with high value and key basic questions about food safety,” and Post-doctoral Foundation Project of Shenzhen Polytechnic (6019330003K).

Funding

This research was funded by Shenzhen Science and Technology Project “Studies on cultivation ecology of macroalgae with high value and key basic questions about food safety” (JCYJ20170818140317993) and Post-doctoral Foundation Project of Shenzhen Polytechnic (6019330003 K).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Postdoctoral Innovation Practice Base, Shenzhen Polytechnic, Shenzhen, 518055, China

    Meixia Pang

  2. School of Applied Chemistry and Biological Technology, Shenzhen Polytechnic, Shenzhen, 518055, China

    Meixia Pang, Zhili Huang, Yongjun Tang, Jianguo Dai & Gang Jin

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  1. Meixia Pang
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  2. Zhili Huang
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  3. Yongjun Tang
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  4. Jianguo Dai
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  5. Gang Jin
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Contributions

Jianguo Dai and Gang Jin designed the experiments. Meixia Pang and Zhili Huang conducted most of the experiments and analyzed the data. Yongjun Tang assisted in experiments and discussion of results. Meixia Pang contributed to writing the manuscript, and Gang Jin revised the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Gang Jin.

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Pang, M., Huang, Z., Tang, Y. et al. Transcriptome analysis of the toxicity response of green macroalga Caulerpa lentillifera J. Agardh to high dissolved arsenite. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 38591–38605 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-18122-w

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