viii
producers, seaweeds are of great importance both ecologically and economically.
Seaweeds are exposed to a variety of stressors which affect their physiological and
ecological performance. Integrated “omics” is a powerful technique to identify the
genes, proteins, and metabolic pathways that respond to biotic and abiotic stresses in
plants. Chapter 1 focuses on the application of functional genomics to study stress
physiology in seaweeds and the challenges associated with this approach. It also
describes how functional genomics has been used to identify the mechanism of biosynthesis of secondary metabolites that comprise the cell wall of seaweeds. This
knowledge is highly beneficial when genetically altering the cell wall composition of
seaweeds; such alterations can facilitate oil extraction for biofuel production and the
production high-value bio-products from diverse seaweeds. In recent years, with the
availability of genomic and transcriptomic (expressed sequence tags or ESTs)
resources, several studies have integrated physiological, transcriptomic, and/or proteomic approaches to determine stress tolerance mechanisms in seaweeds. Chapters 2
and 3 summarize how integrated omics approaches, when coupled with physiological
observations, have led to new mechanistic understandings of stress tolerance in
seaweeds. For example, it was discovered that biochemical pathways/networks
coordinate within the cell to scavenge reactive oxygen species in order to increase
tolerance in seaweeds to desiccation and to detoxify heavy metals. These pathways/networks included the upregulation of antioxidant machinery, phycobilisomes (light-harvesting complexes), vesicular trafficking, heat shock proteins,
polyamines, phytochelatins, lipoxygenases, and ATP-binding cassette transporter
proteins. These findings may explain the permanence of stress-tolerant algal species
in the upper intertidal zone, compared with sensitive algal species located in the
lower intertidal zone.
In recent years, another allied omics platform, “lipidomics,” has gained momentum
in marine science to reveal the role of diverse lipids and fatty acids and their
oxidized counterparts (commonly known as oxylipins) in biological systems. These
studies have shown how lipid metabolites influence membrane architecture and the
modulation of transcription and translation and thus provide tolerance and acclimation to marine organisms in altered environmental conditions. In Chap. 4, current
knowledge of lipidomics, advanced analytical tools, and techniques to examine
lipids and their derivatives are given. The integration of lipidomics with allied sister
omics branches to identify unknown gene/protein functions and the development of
systems biology networks to advance knowledge of lipid biochemistry in seaweed
development and acclimation to stress conditions are also discussed. Chapter 5
describes recent advances in understanding how volatile compounds emitted from
seaweeds, such as ethylene and DMSP, affect seaweeds’ physiology, reproduction,
and developmental biology.
Seagrasses are the focus of Chaps. 6–9. Seagrasses are monocotyledonous flowering plants that have adapted to the marine environment for over 130 million years.
Despite their immense ecological (carbon sink) and commercial value, they are
declining at an alarming rate due to climate change and anthropogenic activities
attributed directly (e.g., dredging) or indirectly (e.g., eutrophication) to light stress.
Chapter 6 provides an overview of the development of high-throughput molecular
Preface
producers, seaweeds are of great importance both ecologically and economically.
Seaweeds are exposed to a variety of stressors which affect their physiological and
ecological performance. Integrated “omics” is a powerful technique to identify the
genes, proteins, and metabolic pathways that respond to biotic and abiotic stresses in
plants. Chapter 1 focuses on the application of functional genomics to study stress
physiology in seaweeds and the challenges associated with this approach. It also
describes how functional genomics has been used to identify the mechanism of biosynthesis of secondary metabolites that comprise the cell wall of seaweeds. This
knowledge is highly beneficial when genetically altering the cell wall composition of
seaweeds; such alterations can facilitate oil extraction for biofuel production and the
production high-value bio-products from diverse seaweeds. In recent years, with the
availability of genomic and transcriptomic (expressed sequence tags or ESTs)
resources, several studies have integrated physiological, transcriptomic, and/or proteomic approaches to determine stress tolerance mechanisms in seaweeds. Chapters 2
and 3 summarize how integrated omics approaches, when coupled with physiological
observations, have led to new mechanistic understandings of stress tolerance in
seaweeds. For example, it was discovered that biochemical pathways/networks
coordinate within the cell to scavenge reactive oxygen species in order to increase
tolerance in seaweeds to desiccation and to detoxify heavy metals. These pathways/networks included the upregulation of antioxidant machinery, phycobilisomes (light-harvesting complexes), vesicular trafficking, heat shock proteins,
polyamines, phytochelatins, lipoxygenases, and ATP-binding cassette transporter
proteins. These findings may explain the permanence of stress-tolerant algal species
in the upper intertidal zone, compared with sensitive algal species located in the
lower intertidal zone.
In recent years, another allied omics platform, “lipidomics,” has gained momentum
in marine science to reveal the role of diverse lipids and fatty acids and their
oxidized counterparts (commonly known as oxylipins) in biological systems. These
studies have shown how lipid metabolites influence membrane architecture and the
modulation of transcription and translation and thus provide tolerance and acclimation to marine organisms in altered environmental conditions. In Chap. 4, current
knowledge of lipidomics, advanced analytical tools, and techniques to examine
lipids and their derivatives are given. The integration of lipidomics with allied sister
omics branches to identify unknown gene/protein functions and the development of
systems biology networks to advance knowledge of lipid biochemistry in seaweed
development and acclimation to stress conditions are also discussed. Chapter 5
describes recent advances in understanding how volatile compounds emitted from
seaweeds, such as ethylene and DMSP, affect seaweeds’ physiology, reproduction,
and developmental biology.
Seagrasses are the focus of Chaps. 6–9. Seagrasses are monocotyledonous flowering plants that have adapted to the marine environment for over 130 million years.
Despite their immense ecological (carbon sink) and commercial value, they are
declining at an alarming rate due to climate change and anthropogenic activities
attributed directly (e.g., dredging) or indirectly (e.g., eutrophication) to light stress.
Chapter 6 provides an overview of the development of high-throughput molecular
Preface