Kareniaceae sp. Ross Sea isolate:RS-24 Transcriptome or Gene expression. Kareniaceae sp. Ross Sea isolate:RS-24

Algae play an important role in the fixation and export of CO2 in the Southern Ocean, and this led us to propose exploring the genetic basis for the function of kleptoplastidic organisms with regard to their functional adaptation to extreme environments. We studied the evolutionary history and expression of plastid-targeted genes in an abundant Antarctic dinoflagellate that steals chloroplasts from the haptophyte, Phaeocystis. Our project seeks to determine whether the kleptoplastidic dinoflagellate utilizes ancestral plastid proteins to regulate its stolen plastid, and how their transcription is related to environmental factors that are relevant to the Southern Ocean environment (temperature and light). 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.