Isolation and characterization of calmodulin gene of Alexandrium catenella (Dinoflagellate) and its performance in cell growth and heat stress

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) can occur and then disappear quickly, corresponding to consistent growing and declining of heavy biomasses. The molecular mechanism of blooming remains unclear. In this study, calmodulin gene (cam) of HAB causing species Alexandrium catenella was isolated and characterized. The expression of calmodulin gene was profiled at different growth rates and in heat stress. The full cDNA of cam was 597 nucleotides (nt) in length, including a 25 nt 5t’ untranslated region (UTR), an 122 nt 3′ UTR, and a 450 nt open reading frame (ORF) encoding 149 amino acids. The deduced calmodulin (CaM) was highly conserved in comparison with those of other organisms. As was determined with real-time RT PCR, the abundance of cam transcript varied in a pattern similar to cell growth rate during the whole growing period. The abundance of cam transcript increased by more than 8 folds from lag growth phase to exponential growth phase, and then obviously decreased from exponential growth phase to stationary/decline growth phase. In addition, the relative abundance of cam transcript significantly declined with time during heat shock. Taking CaM function described in other organisms into account, we believe that Ca2+-involved signal transduction, methylation of DNA and toxin precursors underlined the cell growth of this species. The response of cam gene to heat stress in dinoflagellate suggested restrictions in Ca2+ signal transduction and methylation. These findings are helpful to understand the relationships among growth, cell signal transduction, bloom formation and interaction with environmental stimuli in dinoflagellates.