RRC ID 50514
Author Mikami K, Ito M, Taya K, Kishimoto I, Kobayashi T, Itabashi Y, Tanaka R.
Title Parthenosporophytes of the brown alga Ectocarpus siliculosus exhibit sex-dependent differences in thermotolerance as well as fatty acid and sterol composition.
Journal Mar Environ Res
Abstract In the filamentous brown alga Ectocarpus siliculosus, male and female sex is expressed during the haploid parthenosporophyte phase of the life cycle. Here, we found that male parthenosporophytes displayed thermotolerance whereas female specimens displayed severely reduced viability at 25 °C and 28 °C. Profiling of polyunsaturated fatty acids showed that n-3 and n-6 were the predominant species in male and female parthenosporophytes, respectively, and that the n-3/n-6 fatty acid ratio was not affected by a temperature change. Both male and female parthenosporophytes contained the sterols fucosterol, cholesterol, and ergosterol, but these were present at higher levels at 10-25 °C in female specimens than in males. Thus, these fatty acids and sterols would be expected to make the membranes more rigid in the female compared to the male, which is opposite to the paradigm that increased rigidity confers thermotolerance. Our results suggest that the sex-dependent thermotolerance in E. siliculosus parthenosporophytes is not explained by the relationship between membrane fluidity and differences in fatty acids and sterol compositions.
Volume 137
Pages 188-195
Published 2018-6-1
DOI 10.1016/j.marenvres.2018.02.003
PII S0141-1136(17)30697-9
PMID 29459067
MeSH Cholesterol / metabolism* Fatty Acids / metabolism* Phaeophyta / physiology* Sex Characteristics Thermotolerance / physiology*
IF 2.727
Times Cited 3
Resource
Algae KU-1371 KU-1372