The Molecular Diversity and Physiology of Polar Phytoplankton
Little is known about the molecular diversity of the phytoplankton inhabiting the fjords of the West Antarctic Peninsula (WAP), despite the status of this region as being among the most vulnerable to future warming. Additionally, there are many gaps in our knowledge of how polar phytoplankton will r...
Main Author: | |
---|---|
Other Authors: | |
Format: | Other/Unknown Material |
Language: | English |
Published: |
eScholarship, University of California
2021
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6gv4g9h0 |
id |
ftcdlib:oai:escholarship.org/ark:/13030/qt6gv4g9h0 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftcdlib:oai:escholarship.org/ark:/13030/qt6gv4g9h0 2023-05-15T13:52:09+02:00 The Molecular Diversity and Physiology of Polar Phytoplankton Hamilton, Maria Worden, Alexandra Z 2021-01-01 application/pdf https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6gv4g9h0 en eng eScholarship, University of California qt6gv4g9h0 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6gv4g9h0 public Biological oceanography etd 2021 ftcdlib 2021-08-16T17:10:20Z Little is known about the molecular diversity of the phytoplankton inhabiting the fjords of the West Antarctic Peninsula (WAP), despite the status of this region as being among the most vulnerable to future warming. Additionally, there are many gaps in our knowledge of how polar phytoplankton will respond to the effects of climate change or about the unique life history strategies they may have evolved. The main objective of this dissertation is to develop an improved understanding of the physiology of a model polar phytoplankton species and to characterize phytoplankton community structure in terms of molecular diversity in a climate-sensitive polar environment. The phytoplankton community in a WAP fjord was surveyed by sequencing the V9 region of the 18S rRNA gene and the V1-V2 region of the plastid derived 16S rRNA gene (Chapter 2). In addition, photosynthetic cells were enumerated by flow cytometry. A novel cryptophyte was observed and the phylogeny and global distribution of this cryptophyte was then examined. Among other phytoplankton, the picoprasinophyte, Micromonas polaris, was also observed in these Antarctic samples. With the genome of M. polaris CCMP2099 newly in hand, we aimed to improve our understanding of how polar phytoplankton may respond to the future effects of climate change by examining M. polaris’ physiological and transcriptional responses to changing CO2 and nitrate conditions in continuous-flow photo-bioreactors (Chapter 3). Finally, we explored the potential survivability and transcriptional responses by this alga as it descends to the deep ocean, building on prior observations of M. polaris in North Atlantic Deep Water, using a series of in situ incubation experiments (Chapter 4). Collectively, these studies provide baseline information on polar phytoplankton community structure and physiological capability, which will help to guide future assessments of the phytoplankton in these regions under a changing climate. Other/Unknown Material Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula North Atlantic Deep Water North Atlantic University of California: eScholarship Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of California: eScholarship |
op_collection_id |
ftcdlib |
language |
English |
topic |
Biological oceanography |
spellingShingle |
Biological oceanography Hamilton, Maria The Molecular Diversity and Physiology of Polar Phytoplankton |
topic_facet |
Biological oceanography |
description |
Little is known about the molecular diversity of the phytoplankton inhabiting the fjords of the West Antarctic Peninsula (WAP), despite the status of this region as being among the most vulnerable to future warming. Additionally, there are many gaps in our knowledge of how polar phytoplankton will respond to the effects of climate change or about the unique life history strategies they may have evolved. The main objective of this dissertation is to develop an improved understanding of the physiology of a model polar phytoplankton species and to characterize phytoplankton community structure in terms of molecular diversity in a climate-sensitive polar environment. The phytoplankton community in a WAP fjord was surveyed by sequencing the V9 region of the 18S rRNA gene and the V1-V2 region of the plastid derived 16S rRNA gene (Chapter 2). In addition, photosynthetic cells were enumerated by flow cytometry. A novel cryptophyte was observed and the phylogeny and global distribution of this cryptophyte was then examined. Among other phytoplankton, the picoprasinophyte, Micromonas polaris, was also observed in these Antarctic samples. With the genome of M. polaris CCMP2099 newly in hand, we aimed to improve our understanding of how polar phytoplankton may respond to the future effects of climate change by examining M. polaris’ physiological and transcriptional responses to changing CO2 and nitrate conditions in continuous-flow photo-bioreactors (Chapter 3). Finally, we explored the potential survivability and transcriptional responses by this alga as it descends to the deep ocean, building on prior observations of M. polaris in North Atlantic Deep Water, using a series of in situ incubation experiments (Chapter 4). Collectively, these studies provide baseline information on polar phytoplankton community structure and physiological capability, which will help to guide future assessments of the phytoplankton in these regions under a changing climate. |
author2 |
Worden, Alexandra Z |
format |
Other/Unknown Material |
author |
Hamilton, Maria |
author_facet |
Hamilton, Maria |
author_sort |
Hamilton, Maria |
title |
The Molecular Diversity and Physiology of Polar Phytoplankton |
title_short |
The Molecular Diversity and Physiology of Polar Phytoplankton |
title_full |
The Molecular Diversity and Physiology of Polar Phytoplankton |
title_fullStr |
The Molecular Diversity and Physiology of Polar Phytoplankton |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Molecular Diversity and Physiology of Polar Phytoplankton |
title_sort |
molecular diversity and physiology of polar phytoplankton |
publisher |
eScholarship, University of California |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6gv4g9h0 |
geographic |
Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula North Atlantic Deep Water North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula North Atlantic Deep Water North Atlantic |
op_relation |
qt6gv4g9h0 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6gv4g9h0 |
op_rights |
public |
_version_ |
1766256403951910912 |