Computational Biology Approaches to Plant Metabolism and Photosynthesis: Applications for Corals in Times of Climate Change and Environmental Stress

Abstract

Knowledge of factors that are important in reef resilience helps us to understand how reef ecosystems react following major anthropogenic and environmental disturbances. The symbiotic relationship between the photosynthetic zooxanthellae algal cells and corals is that the zooxanthellae provide the coral with carbon, while the coral provides protection and access to enough light for the zooxanthellae to photosynthesise. This article reviews some recent advances in computational biology relevant to photosynthetic organisms, including Beyesian approaches to kinetics, computational methods for flux balances in metabolic processes, and determination of clades of zooxanthallae. Application of these systems will be important in the conservation of coral reefs in times of climate change and environmental stress.

Complementary iTRAQ proteomics and RNA-seq transcriptomics reveal multiple levels of regulation in response to nitrogen starvation in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803

“…9 Perturbation of photosynthesis by nitrogen starvation has been reported previously. 9,10,13,14,[50][51][52] Physiological measurements indicated that nitrogen starvation severely affected photosynthetic carbon fixation and caused strong bleaching; however, no change of transcriptional level of the genes related to PSI was found even after nitrogen starvation for 48 h. 10 In our recent proteomic and transcriptomic analysis of the effects of ethanol and butanol on cyanobacteria, the increased abundance of photosynthetic proteins was also revealed, although the exact mechanism is still unknown. 21,22,25 In this study, 17 proteins from phycobilisome, phycocyanin, PSII, photosynthetic electron transport, and PSI, were detected with significantly increased abundances.…”

60 Years of Development of the Journal of Integrative Plant Biology

“…JIPB leverages key subject areas such as this one to enhance its significance. In 2010, JIPB published a special issue covering the breadth and depth of various aspects of photosynthesis (Crabbe 2010; Ifuku et al. 2010; Jiang et al.…”

Photosynthesis for Food, Fuel and the Future

“…The symbiotic relationship between zooxanthellae and corals is that the zooxanthellae provide the coral with photosynthetic carbon, which is often enough to supply the coral's energy requirements (Muller‐Parker and D’Elia 1997) and in turn the coral provides protection and access to enough light for the zooxanthellae to photosynthesis. In this special issue of JIPB, the review by Crabbe (2010) gives us an overview of some recent advances in computational biology relevant to photosynthetic organisms, including Beyesian approaches to kinetics, computational methods for flux balances in metabolic processes. In addition, this review presents an example of applications of computational biology approaches in the conservation of coral reefs in times of climate change and environmental stress.…”