Thermal Acclimation in Emiliania huxleyi

Thermal Acclimation in Emiliania huxleyi

Emiliania huxleyi is a globally-distributed coccolithophore with a major influence on beogeochemical cycling via the production of large, ephemeral blooms. Because of its global distribution, Emiliania huxleyi has a wide thermal range and apparently a high capacity for short-term acclimation and long-term adaptation to thermal conditions. We are studying this capacity in the lab via both traditional experimental acclimation approaches in semi-continuous culture, and via tracking gene expression changes in response to thermal conditioning in the taxon via transcriptomics. Through this project, we will address the questions:

  1. Is the growth rate or the response time to change more vulnerable to thermal conditioning?
  2. Does Emiliania huxleyi’s capacity to survive in diverse thermal condition increase with exposure time?
  3. What can we learn from more transcriptomic data under precise thermal experimental conditions? Can we apply this to unpacking global ‘omics datasets?