Phylogenetic Diversity in the Macromolecular Composition of Microalgae

Zoe V Finkel; Mick J Follows; Justin D Liefer; Chris M Brown; Ina Benner; Andrew J Irwin

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0155977

Phylogenetic Diversity in the Macromolecular Composition of Microalgae

PLoS One. 2016 May 26;11(5):e0155977. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0155977. eCollection 2016.

Authors

Zoe V Finkel¹, Mick J Follows², Justin D Liefer¹, Chris M Brown³, Ina Benner¹, Andrew J Irwin⁴

Affiliations

¹ Environmental Science Program, Mount Allison University, Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada.
² Department of Earth, Atmosphere and Planetary Sciences, MIT, Cambridge, MA, United States of America.
³ Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Mount Allison University, Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada.
⁴ Department of Math and Computer Science, Mount Allison University, Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada.

Abstract

The elemental stoichiometry of microalgae reflects their underlying macromolecular composition and influences competitive interactions among species and their role in the food web and biogeochemistry. Here we provide a new estimate of the macromolecular composition of microalgae using a hierarchical Bayesian analysis of data compiled from the literature. The median macromolecular composition of nutrient-sufficient exponentially growing microalgae is 32.2% protein, 17.3% lipid, 15.0% carbohydrate, 17.3% ash, 5.7% RNA, 1.1% chlorophyll-a and 1.0% DNA as percent dry weight. Our analysis identifies significant phylogenetic differences in macromolecular composition undetected by previous studies due to small sample sizes and the large inherent variability in macromolecular pools. The phylogenetic differences in macromolecular composition lead to variations in carbon-to-nitrogen ratios that are consistent with independent observations. These phylogenetic differences in macromolecular and elemental composition reflect adaptations in cellular architecture and biochemistry; specifically in the cell wall, the light harvesting apparatus, and storage pools.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Bayes Theorem
Biodiversity*
Macromolecular Substances / chemistry*
Microalgae / classification*
Microalgae / growth & development
Microalgae / metabolism*
Phylogeny*
Plant Physiological Phenomena*

Substances

Macromolecular Substances

Grants and funding

This work is a product of Macromolecular models of Marine Microbes grant #3778 supported by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.