藻类水通道蛋白的研究进展

Study Advances on the Algal Aquaporins

目前,大量水通道蛋白已在古菌、细菌、真菌、动物和植物中相继被发现,但对于低等植物——藻类水通道蛋白的研究相对较少。藻类与陆地高等植物在生长环境方面存在较大差异,因此其体内存在的水通道蛋白在功能作用机制方面与高等植物会有不同。所有藻类的生长发育过程都与水分传导息息相关,而藻类水通道蛋白不仅仅是水分运输的通道蛋白,同时还具有其他生理生化功能,是一类多功能蛋白。与植物水通道蛋白相比,藻类水通道蛋白的研究起步较晚。在2004年从莱茵衣藻中得到第一个水通道蛋白后,越来越多的研究者开始对藻类体内存在的水通道蛋白产生关注。近年来,在一些藻类全基因组测序完成的基础之上,研究者对藻类水通道蛋白的探索也有了新的进展。迄今为止,已有8个不同亚族的藻类水通道蛋白被确定出来,而且在近两年内,又有研究者从南极冰藻、条斑紫菜和羊栖菜中发现新的藻类水通道蛋白。综述了当前藻类水通道蛋白的分类和结构特征等方面的研究进展,并结合新发现的几种藻类水通道蛋白,阐述了藻类处于胁迫环境时水通道蛋白的特异性表达和所发挥的生理功能,为后续相关藻类水通道蛋白的研究奠定一定的理论基础。

At present,a lot of aquaporins（AQPs）have been found in archaea,bacteria,fungi,animals and plants,but relativelyfew studies on aquaporins of lower plants have been carried out,especially on the algae. It is well known that there is a great difference in thegrowth environment between algae and terrestrial higher plants,naturally the functional mechanisms of aquaporins between them differ. Theentire growth and development process of algae are closely related to water conduction,and the aquaporins in algae are not only the watertransport channel but also a type of multifunctional proteins,for instance physiological and biochemical functions. Compared with the plantaquoporins,the studies on algal aquaporins were initiated later. Since the identification of the first algal aquaporin from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii in 2004,increasingly researchers began to focus on the aquaporins in algae. In recent years,on the basis of the complete genomesequences of some algae,researchers have made some new progresses in the exploration of algal aquaporins. Moreover,eight differentsubfamilies of algal aquaporins have been identified;and in the last two years,researchers have also found some new algal aquaporins fromthe Chlamydomonas sp. ICE-L,Sargassum fusiforme and Pyropia yezoensis. This paper summarizes the research advances on the classificationand structure of algal aquaporins,and expounds the specific expression and physiological functions of aquaporins when the algae are in a stressenvironment while combined with several newly discovered algal aquaporins. This study will provide a theoretical basis for further studies onalgal aquaporins