Impact of the salt stress on the photosynthetic carbon flux and 13C-label distribution within floridoside and digeneaside in Solieria chordalis

The flux of photosynthetic carbon used in the synthesis of low-molecular weight carbohydrates (digeneaside and floridoside) was investigated by C-13 and H-1 NMR spectroscopy in samples of the red seaweed, Solieria chordalis, incubated at different salinities (22, 34 and 50 psu). Carbohydrates were labelled, by pulse-chase, with the stable isotope C-13 from NaH (CO3)-C-13. In vivo NMR analyses carried out with a cryogenic probe optimised for C-13 detection were performed directly on the living algal tissues to evidence the labelling of the carbohydrates with neither preliminary extraction nor purification step(s). The isotopic enrichment of each compound was determined by high-resolution H-1 and C-13 NMR spectroscopy. These analyses evidenced different orientations of the flux of the photosynthetic carbon in the algae according to the salt stress. At normal and low salinities, the photosynthetic carbon flux was responsible of 70% and 67% of the floridoside synthetized during the pulse period, respectively, whereas it was only of 30% in the thalli exposed to the high salinity, meaning a biosynthesis of high floridoside amount from endogen source leading to the osmotic regulation. Under normal and hyper-osmotic conditions, the stock of floridoside was used for cellular needs during the chase period, whereas it was not under hypo-osmotic conditions. The characterization of isotopomers composition of floridoside and digeneaside and the analysis of adjacent C-13-labelling gives much more details on the effects of salinity on the metabolic pathways leading to the synthesis or the degradation of these molecules. High turnover of floridoside was evidenced at normal salinity during the chase period and products issued from the degradation of floridoside would not be used for the novo biosynthesis. That suggests that synthesis and degradation of floridoside may be realized in two different cellular compartments. The presence of more numerous C-13-C-13 blocks in the carbon skeleton of the molecules from the up salt stressed thalli than in those from no salt stressed algae, concomitant with a slower degree of isotopic enrichment of the molecule, provided evidence that the two metabolic pathways (endogen and photosynthetic) may not share the precursor molecules involved in the floridoside synthesis and that these two routes may be totally separate until the constitution of floridoside molecule. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.