In large regions of the open ocean, iron is a limiting resource for phytoplankton. The reduction of iron quota and the recycling of internal iron pools are among the diverse strategies that phytoplankton have evolved to allow them to grow under chronically low ambient iron levels. Phytoplankton species also have evolved strategies to cope with sporadic iron supply such as long-term storage of iron in ferritin. In the picophytoplanktonic species Ostreococcus we report evidence from observations both in the field and in laboratory cultures that ferritin and the main iron-binding proteins involved in photosynthesis and nitrate assimilation pathways show opposite diurnal expression patterns, with ferritin being maximally expressed during the night. Biochemical and physiological experiments using a ferritin knock-out line subsequently revealed that this protein plays a central role in the diel regulation of iron uptake and recycling and that this regulation of iron homeostasis is essential for cell survival under iron limitation.

Department of Parasitology Faculty of Science Charles University 12844 Prague Czech Republic;

Institut de Biologie de l'Ecole Normale Supérieure CNRS UMR8197 Inserm U1024 75005 Paris France

Sorbonne Universités University Pierre et Marie Curie University of Paris 6 CNRS Laboratoire d'Océanographie Microbienne Observatoire Océanologique F 66650 Banyuls sur Mer France;

Sorbonne Universités University Pierre et Marie Curie University of Paris 6 CNRS UMR 7144 Adaptation et Diversité en Milieux Marins Marine Phototrophic Prokaryotes Group Roscoff Biological Station CS 90074 29688 Roscoff cedex France;

Unité Mixte de Service UMS2348 F 66651 Banyuls sur Mer France;

Université Paris Diderot Paris 7 CNRS Institut Jacques Monod F 75013 Paris France;

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Short-term acidification promotes diverse iron acquisition and conservation mechanisms in upwelling-associated phytoplankton

Iron Uptake Mechanisms in Marine Phytoplankton

Acclimation of a low iron adapted Ostreococcus strain to iron limitation through cell biomass lowering

Ostreococcus tauri is a new model green alga for studying iron metabolism in eukaryotic phytoplankton