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The pennate diatom Haslea ostrearia is the emblematic and most studied species of the genus Haslea. H. ostrearia is mainly benthic and epiphyte, forming biofilm on sediment and on macroalgae. The cells produce a blue water-soluble pigment: the marennine with allelopathic, antioxidant, antiviral, antibacterial properties observed in laboratory conditions. Marennine is responsible for the greening of oysters in refining ponds in the Marennes Oléron area (France), a phenomenon that has economical and patrimonial values. Recently, new species of blue Haslea producing marennine-like pigments were described (H. karadagensis, H. nusantara, H. provincialis). Last years, large benthic blooms of blue Haslea spp. have been observed in natural environments, e.g. in Calvi Bay, Corsica France. First the species of Haslea responsible for the bloom were identified using morphological and molecular approaches. Their abundances were determined and cartography of the recent blooms localisations was achieved. Then, within shallow photophilous rocky habitats affected by the bloom, the epiphytic communities of some representant macroalgal species (Padina sp. and Acetabularia sp.) were studied using taxonomic identification tools. This information will be used to define if the release of marennine-like pigments during blooms affects the structure of the benthic epiphytic and epiplithic microfauna and microflora. This work represents the first studies on the dynamic of the bloom of Haslea in natural environment in open water. The Genus Haslea, New marine resources for blue biotechnology and Aquaculture

Momarsat 2022 cruise report: summary of dives and operations, and position of moorings and observation infrastructures and sampling locations

Precipitation of calcium carbonate by phytoplankton in the photic oceanic layer is an important process regulating the carbon cycling and the exchange Of CO2 at the ocean-atmosphere interface. Previous experiments have demonstrated that, under nutrient-sufficient conditions, doubling the partial pressure Of CO2 (pCO(2)) in seawater-a likely scenario for the end of the century-can significantly decrease both the rate of calcification by coccolithophorids and the ratio of inorganic to organic carbon production. The present work investigates the effects of high pCO(2) on calcification by the coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi (Strain TW1) grown under nitrogen-limiting conditions, a situation that can also prevail in the ocean. Nitrogen limitation was achieved in NO3-limited continuous cultures renewed at the rate of 0.5 d(-1) and exposed to a saturating light level. pCO(2) was increased from 400 to 700 ppm and controlled by bubbling CO2-rich or CO2-free air into the cultures. The pCO(2) shift has a rapid effect on cell physiology that occurs within 2 cell divisions subsequent to the perturbation. Net calcification rate (C) decreased by 25% and, in contrast to previous studies with N-replete cultures, gross community production (GCP) and dark community respiration (DCR) also decreased. These results suggest that increasing pCO(2) has no noticeable effect on the calcification/photosynthesis ratio (C/P) when cells of E. huxleyi are NO3-limited.

Macroalgae, and particularly their lignin-free polysaccharides, are increasingly used for their gelling and therapeutic properties and for the production of biofuels and renewable chemical compounds. To extract, hydrolyze and purify this biomass, algae hydrolyzing enzymes are needed. Our work aims to identify and characterize algal biomass hydrolyzing enzymes expressed by microorganisms living on the surface of algae, by functional metagenomics. Therefore, a microbial DNA extraction method was developed to isolate the gDNA from the microorganisms of the brown algae Ascophyllum nodosum and a metagenomic library was constructed in Escherichia coli. The library was screened for diverse enzymatic activities (esterases, xylanases, cellulases, α-amylases, arabinanases, caseinases and β-glucosidases) on agar plates with specific enzymes substrates. Several new microbial enzymes (esterases, β-glucosidases, α-amylases and cellulases) were identified revealing the wealth of our library. Furthermore, those enzymes had less than 50% sequence identity with known protein sequences; meaning that our approach allows to identify new microbial enzymes expressed by uncultured microorganisms. Plate tests for medium-throughput screening of specific enzymes hydrolyzing algal polysaccharides (agarases, carrageenases and alginate lyases) are currently being developed. Our approach will probably allow us to identify new families of those ill-known enzymes, with particular enzymatic activities.

Despite being an abundant group of significant ecological importance the phylogenetic relationships of the Octocorallia remain poorly understood and very much understudied. We used 1132 bp of two mitochondrial protein-coding genes, nad2 and mtMutS (previously referred to as msh1), to construct a phylogeny for 161 octocoral specimens from the Atlantic, including both Isididae and non-Isididae species. We found that four clades were supported using a concatenated alignment. Two of these (A and B) were in general agreement with the of Holaxonia–Alcyoniina and Anthomastus–Corallium clades identified by previous work. The third and fourth clades represent a split of the Calcaxonia–Pennatulacea clade resulting in a clade containing the Pennatulacea and a small number of Isididae specimens and a second clade containing the remaining Calcaxonia. When individual genes were considered nad2 largely agreed with previous work with MtMutS also producing a fourth clade corresponding to a split of Isididae species from the Calcaxonia–Pennatulacea clade. It is expected these difference are a consequence of the inclusion of Isisdae species that have undergone a gene inversion in the mtMutS gene causing their separation in the MtMutS only tree. The fourth clade in the concatenated tree is also suspected to be a result of this gene inversion, as there were very few Isidiae species included in previous work tree and thus this separation would not be clearly resolved. A~larger phylogeny including both Isididae and non Isididae species is required to further resolve these clades.

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