Journal article
The uronic acid content of coccolith-associated polysaccharides provides an insight into coccolithogenesis and past climate
- Abstract:
- Unicellular phytoplanktonic algae (coccolithophores) are amongst the most prolific producers of calcium carbonate on the planet, with a production of ~10^26 coccoliths/year. During their lith formation, coccolithophores mainly employ coccolith-associated polysaccharides (CAPs) for the regulation of crystal nucleation and growth. These macromolecules interact with the intracellular calcifying compartment (coccolith vesicle) through the charged carboxyl groups of their uronic acid residues. Here we report the isolation of CAPs from modern day coccolithophores and their prehistoric predecessors and we demonstrate that their uronic acid content (UAC) offers a species-specific signature. We also show that there is a correlation between the UAC of CAPs and the internal saturation state of the coccolith vesicle which, for most geologically abundant species, is inextricably linked to carbon availability. These findings suggest that the UAC of CAPs reports on the adaptation of coccolithogenesis to environmental changes and is a marker for the estimation of past pCO2 concentrations.
- Publication status:
- Published
- Peer review status:
- Peer reviewed
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(Preview, Version of record, pdf, 750.9KB, Terms of use)
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- Publisher copy:
- 10.1038/ncomms13144
Authors
+ Philip Leverhulme Trust
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- Funding agency for:
- Rickaby, R
- Grant:
- SP2-GA-2008-200915
+ European Research Council
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- Funding agency for:
- Rickaby, R
- Grant:
- SP2-GA-2008-200915
+ Natural Environment Research Council
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- Funding agency for:
- Rickaby, R
- Grant:
- SP2-GA-2008-200915
- Publisher:
- Nature Publishing Group
- Journal:
- Nature Communications More from this journal
- Article number:
- 13144
- Publication date:
- 2016-10-26
- Acceptance date:
- 2016-09-07
- DOI:
- ISSN:
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2041-1723
- Pubs id:
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pubs:646313
- UUID:
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uuid:f134d704-b4cb-4d27-ad20-025f960ee794
- Local pid:
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pubs:646313
- Source identifiers:
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646313
- Deposit date:
-
2016-09-26
Terms of use
- Copyright holder:
- Lee et al
- Copyright date:
- 2016
- Notes:
- © Lee et al. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
- Licence:
- CC Attribution (CC BY)
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