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. 2021 Sep;28(9):5106-5114.
doi: 10.1016/j.sjbs.2021.05.029. Epub 2021 May 20.

Effects of ocean acidification on the growth and biochemical composition of a green alga (Ulva fasciata) and its associated microbiota

Khouloud M Barakat  1 , Heba S El-Sayed  1 , Hanan M Khairy  1 , Mohamed A El-Sheikh  2 , Sarah A Al-Rashed  2 , Ibrahim A Arif  2 , Mostafa E Elshobary  3
Affiliations

Effects of ocean acidification on the growth and biochemical composition of a green alga (Ulva fasciata) and its associated microbiota

Khouloud M Barakat et al. Saudi J Biol Sci. 2021 Sep.

Abstract

In marine ecosystems, fluctuations in surface-seawater carbon dioxide (CO2), significantly influence the whole metabolism of marine algae, especially during the early stages of macroalgal development. In this study, the response of the green alga Ulva fasciata for elevating ocean acidification was investigated using four levels of pCO2 ~ 280, 550, 750 and 1050 µatm. Maximum growth rate (6.6% day-1), protein (32.43 %DW) and pigment (2.9 mg/g) accumulation were observed at pCO2-550 with an increase of ~2-fold compared to control. On the other hand, lipid and carbohydrate contents recorded their maximum production (4.23 and 46.96 %DW, respectively) at pCO2-750 while control showed 3.70 and 42.37 %DW, respectively. SDS-PAGE showed the presence of unique bands in response to pCO2, especially at 550 µatm. Dominant associated bacteria was shifted from Halomonas hydrothermalis of control to Vibrio toranzoniae at pCO2-1050. These findings suggest that ocean acidification at 550 µatm might impose noticeable effects on growth, protein, pigments, and protein profile of U. fasciata, which could be a good source for fish farming. While, pCO2-750 was recommended for energetic purpose, due to its high lipid and carbohydrate contents.

Keywords: Growth; Microbiota; Protein profile; Ulva fasciata; pCO2 levels.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Specific growth rate of U. fasciata (%/ day) cultured for 12 days on different pCO2 levels.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Pigment content of U. fasciata under different pCO2 concentrations.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Protein fingerprinting patterns for U. fasciata under different pCO2. PM, protein marker.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Neighbour-joining (NJ) dendrogram was constructed for the dominant bacterial strains based on 16S rRNA nucleotide sequences. Bootstrap values higher than 70 are shown on the trees.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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