Understanding the Mechanisms of Cell and Population Responses of Coccolithophores to Changing Ocean Chemistry

The calcifying coccolithophores have been proposed as a potentially vulnerable group in the face of increasing surface ocean CO2 levels. A full understanding of the likely responses of this group requires better mechanistic information on pH- and CO2-sensitive processes that underlie cell function at molecular, cellular and population levels. New findings on the mechanisms of pH homeostasis at a molecular and cellular level in both diatoms and coccolithophores are shaping our understanding of how these important groups may respond or acclimate to changing ocean pH. Critical parameters including intracellular pH homeostasis and cell surface pH will be considered. These studies are being carried out in parallel with genetic studies of natural oceanic populations to assess the natural genetic and physiological diversity that will underlie adaptation of populations in the long term.