Weakened growth, cell division, and energy metabolism, but enhanced resistance, signaling, and anabolism: responses of Ulva prolifera to copper elucidated by omics

Ulva spp. have outstanding survivability in copper-rich environments, but research into the interactions between these algae and copper is required. This study combined transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics to investigate the expression of various metabolites in Ulva prolifera after exposure to 10 mg L−1 of copper sulfate for 12 h. The results showed that copper stress in U. prolifera mainly manifested as a reduction in transcription and translation, which was related to gene expression, protein activity, and metabolite content in cell division and energy metabolism. However, the resistance, signal transduction, and metabolism of U. prolifera were enhanced to respond actively to acute copper stress in many aspects. These findings demonstrate the impact of 12 h of 10 mg L−1 copper sulfate exposure on U. prolifera.