Expression of transcription factors in calcifying and non-calcifying strains of the marine coccolithophorid Emiliania huxleyi

The coccolithophorid Emiliania huxleyi is a marine single-celled algae distinguished by its calcium carbonate scales known as coccoliths. It has evoked wide research interest because of its role in global carbon cycling, climate change, and biomineralization processes. To date, a molecular-level understanding of transcription factors involved in calcification is lacking. This research was aimed at identifying transcription factors (TFs) specifically related to calcification by examining the expression of a suite of TFs in calcifying and non-calcifying strains of E. huxleyi. Real-time PCR (RT-PCR) was performed using RNA extracted from four calcifying and three non-calcifying strains of E. huxleyi. Analysis of real time results was performed to look at the relative fold difference in TF expression between calcifying versus non-calcifying strains. To test for significance, a student's t-test was performed using Cycle Threshold (CT) values with a Benjamini Hochberg post-hoc correction. Of the 46 TFs used in this study 14 were identified to be significantly differentially expressed. Eleven of the 14 TFs were identified to be significantly less expressed in calcifying strains, and three were significantly more expressed in calcifying strains. Additionally, 26 TFs were annotated and uploaded on the JGI genome annotation page.\ud Keywords: Annotation, Biomineralization, Calcification, Coccoliths, Coccolithophore, Emiliania hux/eyi, Gene Expression, Real time RT-PCR, Transcription factor