The Mechanism of the Acclimation of Nannochloropsis oceanica to Freshwater Deduced from Its Transcriptome Profiles The Mechanism of the Acclimation of Nannochloropsis oceanica to Freshwater Deduced from Its Transcriptome Profiles

In this study, we compared the transcriptomes of Nannochloropsis oceanica cultured in f/2 medium prepared with seawater and freshwater, respectively, aiming to understand the acclimation mechanism of this alga to freshwater. Differentially expressed genes were mainly assigned to the degradation of cell components, ion transportation, and ribosomal biogenesis. These findings indicate that the algal cells degrade its components(mainly amino acids and fatty acids) to yield excessive energy(ATP) to maintain cellular ion(mainly K+ and Ca2+) homeostasis, while the depletion of amino acids and ATP, and the reduction of ribosomes attenuate the protein translation and finally slow down the cell growth