Molecular cloning and transcriptional regulation of two γ-carbonic anhydrase genes in the green macroalga Ulva prolifera

Ulva prolifera O.F. Müller (Ulvophyceae, Chlorophyta) is well known as a typical green-tide forming macroalga which has caused the world’s largest macroalgal blooms in the Yellow Sea of China. In this study, two full-length γ-carbonic anhydrase (γ-CA) genes (UpγCA1 and UpγCA2) were cloned from U. prolifera. UpγCA1 has three conserved histidine residues, which act as an active site for binding a zinc metal ion. In UpγCA2, two of the three histidine residues were replaced by serine and arginine, respectively. The two γ-CA genes are clustered together with other γ-CAs in Chlorophyta with strong support value (100% bootstrap) in maximum likelihood (ML) phylogenetic tree. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis showed that stressful environmental conditions markedly inhibited transcription levels of these two γ-CA genes. Low pH value (pH 7.5) significantly increased transcription level of UpγCA2 not UpγCA1 at 12 h, whereas high pH value (pH 8.5) significantly inhibited the transcription of these two γ-CA genes at 6 h. These findings enhanced our understanding on transcriptional regulation of γ-CA genes in response to environmental factors in U. prolifera.