Phaeocystis antarctica isolate:RS-24 Transcriptome or Gene expression. Phaeocystis antarctica isolate:RS-24

We are exploring the maintenance of stolen plastids in an Antarctic dinoflagellate with regard to their functional adaptation to extreme environments. The dinoflagellate steals chloroplasts from the haptophyte, Phaeocystis antarctica. Our project seeks to determine whether the kleptoplastidic dinoflagellate utilizes ancestral plastid proteins to regulate the stolen plastid, whether their transcription is related to environmental factors that are relevant to the Southern Ocean environment (temperature and light) and how that compares to the regulation of plastid associated transcripts in Phaeocystis. This work will help us to understand the environmental success of this alternative nutritional strategy, and to assess the potential impact of anthropogenic climate change on the organism.