Abstract
Fluorimetry analysis of nuclear DNA content allows identification of genome size and ploidy levels of different life phases, tissues, and populations in seaweed species. It is an easy method that saves time and resources compared to more complex techniques. Here we describe the methodology for measuring nuclear DNA content in seaweed species by DAPI fluorochrome staining and its comparison with the standard Gallus gallus erythrocytes nuclear content, one of the preferred internal standards. With this methodology, up to a thousand nuclei can be measured in a single staining session, allowing for a quick analysis of the studied species.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Greilhuber J, Doležel J, Lysak MA, Bennett MD (2005) The origin, evolution and proposed stabilization of the terms “genome size” and “C-value” to describe nuclear DNA contents. Ann Bot 95:255–260
Bennett MD, Leitch IJ (2011) Nuclear DNA amounts in angiosperms: targets, trends and tomorrow. Ann Bot 107:467–590
Bennett MD, Bhandol P, Leitch IJ (2000) Nuclear DNA amounts in angiosperms and their modern uses - 807 new estimates. Ann Bot 86:859–909
Salvador N, Gómez-Garreta A, Ribera Siguan MA (2009) Somatic meiosis in the life history of Bonnemaisonia asparagoides and Bonnemaisonia clavata (Bonnemaisoniales, Rhodophyta) from the Iberian Peninsula. Eur J Phycol 44:381–393
Goff LJ, Coleman AW (1990) DNA: microspectrofluorometric studies. In: Cole KM, Sheath PG (eds) Biology of the red algae. Cambridge University Press, New York, pp 43–72
Martín-Martín RP, Vilajoliu-Galcerán E, Rull Lluch J, Angulo-Preckler C, Ávila C, Gómez Garreta A (2020) Nuclear DNA content estimations and nuclear development patterns in Antarctic macroalgae. Polar Biol 43:1415–1421
Kapraun DF, Dunwoody JT (2002) Relationship of nuclear genome size to some reproductive cell parameters in the Florideophycidae (Rhodophyta). Phycologia 41:507–516
Varela-Álvarez E, Gómez Garreta A, Rull Lluch J, Salvador Soler N, Serrao EA, Ribera Siguan MA (2012) Mediterranean species of Caulerpa are polyploid with smaller genomes in the invasive ones. 915133 – PloS One 7–10
Pellicer J, Hidalgo O, Dodsworth S, Leitch IJ (2018) Genome size diversity and its impact on the evolution of land plants. Genes 9:88
Ĉertnerová D, Škaloud P (2020) Substantial intraspecific genome size variation in golden-brown algae and its phenotypic consequences. Ann Bot 126:1077–1087
Gregory TR, Nicol JA, Tamm H, Kullman B, Kullman K, Leitch IJ, Murray BG, Kapraun DF, Greilhuber J, Bennett MD (2007) Eukaryotic genome size databases. Nucleic Acids Res 35:D332–D338
Kelly LJ, Leitch AR, Fay MF, Renny-Byfield S, Pellicer Macas J, Leitch IJ (2012) Why size really matters when sequencing plant genomes. Plant Ecol Diver 5:415–425
Lewis RJ (1996) Chromosomes of the brown algae. Phycologia 35:19–40
Le Gall Y, Brown S, Marie D, Mejjad M, Kloareg B (1993) Quantification of nuclear DNA and G-C content in marine macroalgae by flow cytometry of isolated nuclei. Protoplasma 173:123–132
Portugal J, Waring M (1988) Assignment of DNA binding sites for DAPI and bisbenzimide (Hoeschst 33258). Comparative foot printing study. Bioch Bioph Acta 949:158–168
Clowes AW, Reidy MA, Clowes MM (1983) Kinetics of cellular proliferation after arterial injury. I. Smooth muscle growth in absence of endothelium. Lab Investig 49:327–333
Coleman AW, Maguire MJ, Coleman JR (1981) Mithramycin- and 4, 6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI)-staining for fluorescence microspectrophotometric measurement of DNA in nuclei, plastids, and virus particles. J Histoche Cytoche 29:959–968
Kapraun DF, Dutcher JA, Lopez-Bautista J (1992) Nuclear genome characterization of the carrageenophyte Agardhiella subulata (Rhodophyta). J Appl Phycol 4:129–137
Puchtler H, Waldrop FS, Meloan SN, Terry MS, Conner HM (1970) Methacarn (methanol-Carnoy) fixation: practical and theoretical considerations. Histochem Cell Biol 21:97–116
Ribera Siguan MA, Gómez Garreta A, Salvador Soler N, Rull Lluch J, Kapraun DF (2011) Nuclear content estimates suggest a synapomorphy between Dictyota and six other genera of the Dictyotales (Phaeophyceae). Cryptog Algol 2:205–219
Gómez Garreta A, Ribera Siguan MA, Salvador Soler N, Rull Lluch J, Kapraun DF (2010) Fucales (Phaeophyceae) from Spain characterized by large-scale discontinuous nuclear DNA contents consistent with ancestral cryptopolyploidy. Phycologia 49:64–72
Salvador N, Gómez Garreta A, Ribera Siguan MA (2009) Characterization of two frequently confused species, Bonnemaisonia asparagoides and Bonnemaisonia clavata (Bonnemaisoniales, Rhodophyta), on the basis of morphological and molecular evidence. Phycologia 47:177–190
Kapraun DF (1994) Cytophotometric estimation of nuclear DNA contents in thirteen species of the Caulerpales (Chlorophyta). Cryptog Bot 4:410–418
Kapraun DF, Nguyen MN (1994) Karyology, nuclear DNA quantification and nucleus-cytoplasmic domain variations in some multinucleate green algae (Siphonocladales, Chlorophyta). Phycologia 33:42–52
Salvador Soler N, Macaya EC, Rull Lluch J, Gómez Garreta A (2016) Nuclear DNA content in Gelidium chilense (Gelidiales, Rhodophyta) from the Chilean coast. Rev Biol Mar Ocean 51:113–122
Schindelin J, Arganda-Carreras I, Frise E, Kaynig V, Longair M, Pietzsch T et al (2012) Fiji: an open-source platform for biological-image analysis. Nat Methods 9(7):676–682
Acknowledgments
This work is dedicated to M. Antonia Ribera Siguan. Without your participation and enthusiasm, we would not have been able to open this research line in our laboratory.
Thanks are due to Dr. Donald F. Kapraun, who kindly introduced our group to this research line and taught us the technique. Also, thanks to Dr. M. Antonia Ribera Siguan, the former director of the research group “Aquatic Plant Resources” (ReVeA), funded by the Catalan government and whose contribution was essential to develop the current version of the methodology here presented. We also thank Dr. Joan Vallès Xirau, who insisted to start this research line in our group and put us into contact with Dr. Kapraun. We are also grateful to both Drs. Ribera and Vallès, as they also helped revising this work. Thanks to Dr. Elena Varela, Dr. Kjersti Sjøtun, and Dr. Franz Goecke who came to our laboratory to learn the technique and helped us to improve it. Finally, thanks are due to the editors of this book for inviting us to participate in this publication.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature
About this protocol
Cite this protocol
Martín-Martín, R.P., Salvador-Soler, N., Lluch, J.R., Garreta, A.G. (2023). Nuclear DNA Content Estimation of Seaweed by Fluorimetry Analysis. In: Heitkam, T., Garcia, S. (eds) Plant Cytogenetics and Cytogenomics. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2672. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-3226-0_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-3226-0_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Humana, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-0716-3225-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-0716-3226-0
eBook Packages: Springer Protocols