Extracellular silicate uptake and deposition induced by oxidative burst in Saccharina japonica sporophytes (Phaeophyceae)

Abstract

The process of biogenic silicon (Si) deposition in sporophytes of kelp (Saccharina japonica) was investigated by culturing sporophyte disks in the medium with and without hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Culture with H2O2 remarkably promoted silicate-Si uptake by the disks. Silicate-Si uptake was completely inhibited by the treatment with potassium bromide (KBr), a competitive inhibitor of iodoperoxidase (IPO), even in the medium with H2O2. In addition, disk culture with phenol red in the medium with H2O2 resulted in the formation of bromophenol blue, indicating the presence of extracellular IPO. However, KBr treatment inhibited the formation of bromophenol blue in the medium with H2O2. These results showed that silicate-Si uptake is activated by extracellular IPO in the presence of radical oxygen species (ROS), such as H2O2. Interestingly, 1 mM salicylic acid also promoted silicate-Si uptake, even in the medium without H2O2. Furthermore, the allocation of silicate-Si to the soluble and cell wall-bound phlorotannin fractions using rhodamine 123 (R123), a tracer of biogenic Si, was estimated. Tracer fluorescence was detected in not only the soluble but also the cell wall-bound phlorotannin fraction. R123 fluorescence was histologically detected in the apoplasts of the epidermal and outer cortical layers of the disk, overlapping the histochemical distribution of IPO activity. These results suggested that silicate-Si uptake is activated by an oxidative burst induced by various stresses, and Si deposition is catalyzed by extracellular IPO in the presence of both ROS and phlorotannin in the extracellular matrix of sporophytes. Based on these findings, the hypothetical mechanisms of the extracellular silicate-Si uptake for defense responses in kelp were discussed.