Molecular mechanism underlying Pyropia haitanensis PhHsp22-mediated increase in the high-temperature tolerance of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

Global warming is one of the key limiting factors affecting the cultivation of Pyropia haitanensis which is an economically important macroalgae species grown in southern China. However, the mechanism underlying the high-temperature tolerance of P. haitanensis remains largely unknown. In a previous study, we showed that the expression of the small heat shock protein 22 gene (Hsp22) is upregulated in P. haitanensis in response to high-temperature stress, but the associated regulatory mechanism was not fully elucidated. In this study, a transgenic Chlamydomonas reinhardtii expression system was used to functionally characterize P. haitanensis Hsp22. Our analyses indicated that the C-terminal of PhHsp22 is highly conserved and contains an A-crystal structure domain. A phylogenetic analysis revealed PhHsp22 is not closely related to small heat shock protein genes in other species. Additionally, PhHsp22 expression significantly increased at 3 and 6 h after initiating 33 degrees C treatment, which improved the survival rate of transgenic C. reinhardtii during the early stage of high-temperature treatment. The further transcriptome analysis revealed that PhHsp22 expression can promote pathways related to energy metabolism, metabolites metabolism, and protein homeostasis in transgenic C. reinhardtii cells exposed to high temperatures. Therefore, PhHsp22 may be crucial for the response of Pyropia species to high-temperature stress. Furthermore, this gene may be useful for breeding new high-temperature algal strains.