Mate Perception and Gene Networks Regulating the Early Phase of Sex in Pseudo-nitzschia multistriata

Diatoms are photosynthetic microorganisms playing a key role in the functioning of aquatic ecosystems; they are at the base of the food web and are the main drivers of biogeochemical processes. These microalgae have a unique diplontic life cycle in which the vegetative phase entails a cell size reduction that would lead to the extinction of the cell population if the size was not restored, usually by sexual reproduction. The switch from asexual to sexual reproduction needs to be finely synchronized and regulated to ensure its success; to this aim, cells evolved complex chemical crosstalk that mediates mating. We focused our attention on the marine diatom Pseudo-nitzschia multistriata, investigating the reciprocal perception of the opposite mating type (MT) and the genes and signaling molecules putatively involved in the process. From previously available transcriptomic data, we selected a panel of genes deregulated during the early phase of sexual reproduction, confirming for some of them a role during mate perception and establishing a hierarchy governing their behavior. Moreover, we explored the nature of the molecules controlling sexual reproduction in this species, unveiling that the signaling is mediated by the secretion of protein and non-protein cues from the MT− and MT+, respectively. Our results point to a model in which the two MTs stimulate each other, but the stimulation by the MT− is amplified after MT+ perception in a positive feedback manner.