Identifying Aspects of the Post-Transcriptional Program Governing the Proteome of the Green Alga Micromonas pusilla

PLoS One. 2016 Jul 19;11(7):e0155839. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0155839. eCollection 2016.

Abstract

Micromonas is a unicellular motile alga within the Prasinophyceae, a green algal group that is related to land plants. This picoeukaryote (<2 μm diameter) is widespread in the marine environment but is not well understood at the cellular level. Here, we examine shifts in mRNA and protein expression over the course of the day-night cycle using triplicated mid-exponential, nutrient replete cultures of Micromonas pusilla CCMP1545. Samples were collected at key transition points during the diel cycle for evaluation using high-throughput LC-MS proteomics. In conjunction, matched mRNA samples from the same time points were sequenced using pair-ended directional Illumina RNA-Seq to investigate the dynamics and relationship between the mRNA and protein expression programs of M. pusilla. Similar to a prior study of the marine cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus, we found significant divergence in the mRNA and proteomics expression dynamics in response to the light:dark cycle. Additionally, expressional responses of genes and the proteins they encoded could also be variable within the same metabolic pathway, such as we observed in the oxygenic photosynthesis pathway. A regression framework was used to predict protein levels from both mRNA expression and gene-specific sequence-based features. Several features in the genome sequence were found to influence protein abundance including codon usage as well as 3' UTR length and structure. Collectively, our studies provide insights into the regulation of the proteome over a diel cycle as well as the relationships between transcriptional and translational programs in the widespread marine green alga Micromonas.

MeSH terms

  • 3' Untranslated Regions
  • Algal Proteins / genetics*
  • Algal Proteins / metabolism
  • Chlorophyta / genetics*
  • Chlorophyta / metabolism
  • Codon
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Plant*
  • Gene Ontology
  • Molecular Sequence Annotation
  • Photoperiod
  • Photosynthesis / genetics
  • Protein Biosynthesis
  • Proteomics*
  • RNA, Algal / genetics*
  • RNA, Algal / metabolism
  • RNA, Messenger / genetics*
  • RNA, Messenger / metabolism
  • Sequence Analysis, RNA
  • Transcription, Genetic

Substances

  • 3' Untranslated Regions
  • Algal Proteins
  • Codon
  • RNA, Algal
  • RNA, Messenger

Grants and funding

Partial support for this research was provided by the DOE’s Office of Biological and Environmental Research Pan-omics program, and the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory located at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory operated by Battelle for the DOE under contract DE-AC05-76RL01830. Additional funds came from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, a GBMF Investigator Award (3788) and NSF-IOS0843119 to AZW and for JGI under U.S. DOE Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231. Major funds for this research collaboration were from grant DOE-DE-SC0004765 from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to RDS, SJC, JMS and AZW.