Glutathione S-Transferase Regulation in Calanus finmarchicus Feeding on the Toxic Dinoflagellate Alexandrium fundyense

PLoS One. 2016 Jul 18;11(7):e0159563. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0159563. eCollection 2016.

Abstract

The effect of the dinoflagellate, Alexandrium fundyense, on relative expression of glutathione S-transferase (GST) transcripts was examined in the copepod Calanus finmarchicus. Adult females were fed for 5-days on one of three experimental diets: control (100% Rhodomonas spp.), low dose of A. fundyense (25% by volume, 75% Rhodomonas spp.), and high dose (100% A. fundyense). Relative expression of three GST genes was measured using RT-qPCR on days 0.5, 1, 2 and 5 in two independent experiments. Differential regulation was found for the Delta and the Sigma GSTs between 0.5 to 2 days, but not on day 5 in both experiments. The third GST, a microsomal, was not differentially expressed in either treatment or day. RT-qPCR results from the two experiments were similar, even though experimental females were collected from the Gulf of Maine on different dates and their reproductive output differed. In the second experiment, expression of 39 GSTs was determined on days 2 and 5 using RNA-Seq. Global gene expression analyses agreed with the RT-qPCR results. Furthermore, the RNA-Seq measurements indicated that only four GSTs were differentially expressed under the experimental conditions, and the response was small in amplitude. In summary, the A. fundyense diet led to a rapid and transient response in C. finmarchicus in three cytosolic GSTs, while a fourth GST (Omega I) was significantly up-regulated on day 5. Although there was some regulation of GSTs in response the toxic dinoflagellate, the tolerance to A. fundyense by C. finmarchicus is not dependent on the long-term up-regulation of specific GSTs.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Arthropod Proteins / genetics*
  • Arthropod Proteins / metabolism
  • Copepoda / drug effects
  • Copepoda / genetics*
  • Copepoda / metabolism
  • Dinoflagellida / pathogenicity
  • Dinoflagellida / physiology
  • Female
  • Food Chain
  • Gene Expression Regulation
  • Glutathione Transferase / genetics*
  • Glutathione Transferase / metabolism
  • Inactivation, Metabolic / genetics*
  • Isoenzymes / genetics
  • Isoenzymes / metabolism
  • Maine
  • Marine Toxins / toxicity*
  • RNA, Messenger / genetics
  • RNA, Messenger / metabolism
  • Sequence Analysis, RNA

Substances

  • Arthropod Proteins
  • Isoenzymes
  • Marine Toxins
  • RNA, Messenger
  • Glutathione Transferase

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation [grant numbers OCE-1040597, OCE-1235549] to PHL, the Cades Foundation of Honolulu to Daniel K. Hartline and Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory’s David W.Towle Fellowship 2012 to VR. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not reflect the views of the funding agencies. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.