Chemical signaling and defense in brown algal kelps during interactions with herbivores

• Main Author: Cabioch, Léa
• Other Authors: Paris 6, Pontificia universidad católica de Chile (Santiago de Chile), Faugeron, Sylvain, Leblanc, Catherine
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: Kelps; Herbivores; Signalisation chimique; Défense; Aldéhydes; Potentialisation; Chemical signaling; envir; geo; Brunes; Pacific; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://www.theses.fr/2016PA066708/document

Kelps are founding species of temperate marine ecosystems, they evolve in the intertidal coastal areas where they are often challenged by herbivores. As most of sessile organisms, kelps develop defensive strategies against herbivory. In the kelp Laminaria digitata, elicitation by oligoguluronates induced regulations of transcription and metabolic pathways, leading to production and release of metabolites, such as aldehydes, in the environment. Moreover, this kelp species feature systemic responses upon defense elicitation and waterborne compounds surrounding a kelp bed have shown to modify its defense physiology. Such distant chemical signaling during defense responses are reminiscent of systemy and priming mechanisms in plants. In marine kelp beds, it should have a major ecological role in structuring marine algal and herbivore communities. In the context of kelp/herbivore interactions, we investigated the defense responses and signaling processes in two emblematic kelp species from north Atlantic and South Pacific coasts, involved in specialized interactions with their herbivores, L. digitata in interaction with Patella pellucida (Brittany, France) and Lessonia spicata with Scurria scurra (Chile). Combined approaches of metabolomics and bio-assays were carried out to decipher the nature of the putative chemical cues, and their biological and ecological roles in algal defense against herbivores. Results showed that, in response to grazing, kelps featured metabolic modifications such as induction of fatty acids, oxylipins and amino acids biosynthetic pathways, as well as transcriptomic modifications. Moreover, we observed that kelps co-incubated with grazed algae exhibited endo-metabolome changes compared to grazed one, and seemed to be less consumed during a subsequent grazing, suggesting the perception and integration of herbivory-induced algal compounds in neighboring algae. As field and lab studies previously highlighted a strong release of aldehydes into the air and the seawater following biotic and abiotic ...