Marine Board-ESF The Marine Board provides a pan-European platform for its member organisations to develop common priorities, to advance marine research, and to bridge the gap between science and policy in order to meet future marine science challenges and opportunities. The Marine Board was established in 1995 to facilitate enhanced cooperation between European marine science organisations (both research institutes and research funding agencies) towards the development of a common vision on the research priorities and strategies for marine science in Europe. In 2010, the Marine Board represents 30 Member Organisations from 19 countries. The Marine Board provides the essential components for transferring knowledge for leadership in marine research in Europe. Adopting a strategic role, the Marine Board serves its Member Organisations by providing a forum within which marine research policy advice to national agencies and to the European Commission is developed, with the objective of promoting the establishment of the European Marine Research Area.

In order to identify genes involved in cell wall regeneration and stress responses in red algae, expressed sequence tags (ESTs) from protoplasts (2002 ESTs) and thalli (2052 ESTs) from the seaweedChondrus crispus(Stackh.) were studied. Clustering gave 2291 non‐redundant sequences; 50% of the ESTs showed similarity (e<10−4) to known sequences. The fraction of stress‐related ESTs was five‐times higher in the protoplast library than in the thallus library. The ESTs that were statistically over‐represented in protoplasts included: glutathione S‐transferases, heat shock proteins, vanadium bromoperoxidase, and several genes of unknown function; in all 32 transcripts. Over‐represented genes in thallus included: NADH dehydrogenase, a peroxidase, and several genes of unknown function; in all 12 transcripts. In general, the ESTs from the two libraries were very different; for example, only 38% of contigs had members of both catalogues. The approach allowed the identification of numerous stress genes; including 23 different heat shock proteins and molecular chaperones, antioxidative enzymes, and several genes potentially involved in detoxification. Genes potentially involved in the construction of the cell wall or the extracellular matrix included α‐galactosidase, pullulanase, sulfohydrolase, and several sequences with von Willebrand factor type A domains with similarities to cochlin, integrin, and vitrin.

To characterize stress and defense‐induced genes in the brown algaLaminaria digitata(Hudson) J.V. Lamouroux, 1985 expressed sequence tags (ESTs) were generated fromL. digitataprotoplasts. Comparison of the ESTs with public databases allowed putative functions to be assigned to 45% of the sequences. Comparison with ESTs fromL. digitatasporophytes showed that protoplasts expressed more stress genes than intact thalli. Several transcripts in the stress gene class coded for proteins involved in cell protection against oxygen radicals, including thioredoxins (six ESTs), thioredoxin peroxidases (two ESTs), and glutathione‐S‐transferase (GST) (41 ESTs). The GSTs appear to be part of the sigma class, making them the first GST sigma identified in a photosynthetic organism. Other stress genes included a new type of vanadium‐dependent bromoperoxidases (vBPO) showing 71% similarity with vBPOs previously identified in the sporophytic‐thalli phase ofL. digitata. The ESTs coding for 22 different mannuronan‐C5‐epimerases were identified among the cell wall biosynthesis genes, and several ESTs showed similarity with the genome of theEctocarpus siliculosusvirus.

Alginate is an industrially important polysaccharide obtained commercially by harvesting brown algae. The final step in alginate biosynthesis, the epimerization of β-1,4-d-mannuronic acid to α-1,4-l-guluronic acid, a structural change that controls the physicochemical properties of the alginate, is catalyzed by the enzyme mannuronan C-5-epimerase. Six different cDNAs with homology to bacterial mannuronan C-5-epimerases were isolated from the brown alga Laminaria digitata (Phaeophyceae). Hydrophobic cluster analysis indicated that the proteins encoded by the L. digitata sequences have important structural similarities to the bacterial mannuronan C-5-epimerases, including conservation of the catalytic site. The expression of the C-5-epimerase genes was examined by northern-blot analysis and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction in L. digitata throughout a year. Expression was also monitored in protoplast cultures by northern and western blot, reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction, and activity measurements. From both the structural comparisons and the expression pattern, it appears that the cDNAs isolated from L. digitata encode functional mannuronan C-5-epimerases. The phylogenetic relationships of the bacterial and brown algal enzymes and the inferences on the origin of alginate biosynthetic machinery are discussed.

Alginate is an industrially important polysaccharide obtained commercially by harvesting brown algae. The final step in alginate biosynthesis, the epimerization of beta-1,4-D-mannuronic acid to alpha-1,4-L-guluronic acid, a structural change that controls the physicochemical properties of the alginate, is catalyzed by the enzyme mannuronan C-5-epimerase. Six different cDNAs with homology to bacterial mannuronan C-5-epimerases were isolated from the brown alga Laminaria digitata (Phaeophyceae). Hydrophobic cluster analysis indicated that the proteins encoded by the L. digitata sequences have important structural similarities to the bacterial mannuronan C-5-epimerases, including conservation of the catalytic site. The expression of the C-5-epimerase genes was examined by northern-blot analysis and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction in L. digitata throughout a year. Expression was also monitored in protoplast cultures by northern and western blot, reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction, and activity measurements. From both the structural comparisons and the expression pattern, it appears that the cDNAs isolated from L. digitata encode functional mannuronan C-5-epimerases. The phylogenetic relationships of the bacterial and brown algal enzymes and the inferences on the origin of alginate biosynthetic machinery are discussed.

An expressed sequence tag (EST) approach was used to retrieve cDNA clones involved in carbon metabolism in Laminaria digitata Lamouroux. Six partial open reading frames were identified, respectively encoding an α‐type carbonic anhydrase (CA), glucose‐6‐phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH), 6‐phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (6PGDH), phosphoglycerate kinase (PGK), glycolate oxidase (GLO), and GDP‐4‐keto‐6‐d‐mannose‐3,5‐epimerase‐4‐reductase, also known as fucose synthase (FS). These enzymes were further characterized through Southern blot analyses, amino acid sequence comparisons, and patterns of expression. In contrast to the other genes, which are expressed in both the gametophytic and sporophytic generations of L. digitata, the α‐type carbonic anhydrase messenger RNA was shown by RT‐PCR and northern blot analyses to be present in the gametophytes only. The evolutionary relationships of these genes and their interest as molecular tools for investigating carbon fluxes in brown algae are discussed.

MitBASE is an integrated and comprehensive database of mitochondrial DNA data which collects all available information from different organisms and from intraspecie variants and mutants. Research institutions from different countries are involved, each in charge of developing, collecting and annotating data for the organisms they are specialised in. The design of the actual structure of the database and its implementation in a user-friendly format are the care of the European Bioinformatics institute. The database can be accessed on the Web at the following address: http://www.ebi.ac. uk/htbin/Mitbase/mitbase.pl. The impact of this project is intended for both basic and applied research. The study of mitochondrial genetic diseases and mitochondrial DNA intraspecie diversity are key topics in several biotechnological fields. The database has been funded within the EU Biotechnology programme.

The mitochondrial DNA (mt DNA) of the red alga Chondrus crispus is shown to be transcribed into two large RNA molecules. These primary transcripts are cleaved once, at the level of a tRNA, then the resulting products are processed via multiple maturation events into either mono- or poly-cistronic RNAs. Transcripts were detected for all genes and open reading frames, except for rps11 and orf172. For both transcription units the initiation of transcription was mapped by in vitro RNA capping and primer extension experiments within inverse repeated sequences at the north pole of the molecule. Consistent with primer extension mapping, putative promoter motifs sharing significant similarities with both chicken and Xenopus mitochondrial promoters were found in the C. crispus mitochondrial genome. Altogether C. crispus mitochondrial DNA appears to be transcribed as animal mtDNA is, suggesting that transcription mechanisms in mitochondria are dependent on the overall organization of the mitochondrial genome irrespective of the eukaryotic phylogeny.