法国微藻叶绿体生物学与光感知实验室Marianne Jaubert，Angela Falciatore和Jean-Pierre Bouly共同合作，近期取得重要工作进展。他们研究提出，硅藻光敏色素通过整合水下光谱来感知深度。相关研究成果2024年12月18日在线发表于《自然》杂志上。

据介绍，水生生物是由光的分布构成的，光的分布除了强度衰减外，还随着深度呈现出光谱的连续变化。浮游植物通过光感受器感知这些光变化的程度尚不清楚。

研究人员通过将模式物种中硅藻光敏色素（DPH）光感受器的功能研究，与对其分布和活性的环境调查相结合来解决这个问题。通过开发一种对DPH介导的光谱变化的体内剂量反应测定法，研究人员表明DPH可以在整个光谱中引发光可逆反应，导致DPH光平衡随深度而变化。

通过在硅藻Thalassiosira pseudonana中产生DPH突变体，研究人员还证明，在模拟的海洋深度低蓝光条件下，DPH调节光合作用适应，从而将光学深度检测与功能反应联系起来。从永久分层区域到季节性混合区域的含DPH硅藻的纬度分布表明，DPH函数在应对水柱垂直位移方面具有适应性。通过将DPH确立为光学深度的探测器，这项研究为了解硅藻如何利用水下光场中嵌入的信息，来调节整个光带的生理提供了新的视角。

附：英文原文

Title: Diatom phytochromes integrate the underwater light spectrum to sense depth

Author: Duchne, Carole, Bouly, Jean-Pierre, Pierella Karlusich, Juan Jos, Vernay, Emeline, Sells, Julien, Bailleul, Benjamin, Bowler, Chris, Ribera dAlcal, Maurizio, Falciatore, Angela, Jaubert, Marianne

Issue&Volume: 2024-12-18

Abstract: Aquatic life is strongly structured by the distribution of light, which, besides attenuation in intensity, exhibits a continuous change in the spectrum with depth1. The extent to which these light changes are perceived by phytoplankton through photoreceptors is still inadequately known. We addressed this issue by integrating functional studies of diatom phytochrome (DPH) photoreceptors in model species2 with environmental surveys of their distribution and activity. Here, by developing an in vivo dose–response assay to light spectral variations mediated by DPH, we show that DPH can trigger photoreversible responses across the entire light spectrum, resulting in a change in DPH photoequilibrium with depth. By generating dph mutants in the diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana, we also demonstrate that under simulated low-blue-light conditions of ocean depth, DPH regulates photosynthesis acclimation, thus linking optical depth detection with a functional response. The latitudinal distribution of DPH-containing diatoms from permanently stratified regions to seasonally mixed regions suggests an adaptive value of DPH functions in coping with vertical displacements in the water column. By establishing DPH as a detector of optical depth, this study provides a new view of how information embedded in the underwater light field can be exploited by diatoms to modulate their physiology throughout the photic zone.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-08301-3

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08301-3