Natural variation of nutrient homeostasis among laboratory and field strains in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.

Natural variation among individuals and populations exists in all species, playing key roles in response to environmental stress and adaptation. Micro- and macro-nutrients have a wide range of functions in photosynthetic organisms and mineral nutrition plays thus a sizable role in biomass production. To maintain nutrient concentrations inside the cell within physiological limits and prevent the detrimental effects of deficiency or excess, complex homeostatic networks have evolved in photosynthetic cells. The microalga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (Chlamydomonas) is a unicellular eukaryotic model for studying such mechanisms. In this work, twenty-four Chlamydomonas strains, comprising field isolates and laboratory strains, were examined for intraspecific differences in nutrient homeostasis. Growth and mineral content were quantified in mixotrophy, as full nutrition control, and compared to autotrophy and 9 deficiency conditions for macronutrients (-Ca, -Mg, -N, -P, -S) and micronutrients (-Cu, -Fe, -Mn, -Zn). Growth differences among strains were relatively limited. However, similar growth was accompanied by highly divergent mineral accumulation among strains. The expression of nutrient status marker genes and photosynthesis were scored in pairs of contrasting field strains, revealing distinct transcriptional regulation and nutrient requirements. Leveraging this natural variation should enable a better understanding of nutrient homeostasis in Chlamydomonas.