Temperature sensitivity of carbon concentrating mechanisms in the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum

Marine diatoms are key primary producers across diverse habitats in the global ocean. Diatoms rely on a biophysical carbon concentrating mechanism (CCM) to supply high concentrations of CO(2) around their carboxylating enzyme, RuBisCO. The necessity and energetic cost of the CCM are likely to be highly sensitive to temperature, as temperature impacts CO(2) concentration, diffusivity, and the kinetics of CCM components. Here, we used membrane inlet mass spectrometry (MIMS) and modeling to capture temperature regulation of the CCM in the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum (Pt). We found that enhanced carbon fixation rates by Pt at elevated temperatures were accompanied by increased CCM activity capable of maintaining RuBisCO close to CO(2) saturation but that the mechanism varied. At 10 and 18 °C, diffusion of CO(2) into the cell, driven by Pt’s ‘chloroplast pump’ was the major inorganic carbon source. However, at 18 °C, upregulation of the chloroplast pump enhanced (while retaining the proportion of) both diffusive CO(2) and active HCO(3)(−) uptake into the cytosol, and significantly increased chloroplast HCO(3)(−) concentrations. In contrast, at 25 °C, compared to 18 °C, the chloroplast pump had only a slight increase in activity. While diffusive uptake of CO(2) into the cell remained constant, active HCO(3)(−) uptake across the cell membrane increased resulting in Pt depending equally on both CO(2) and HCO(3)(−) as inorganic carbon sources. Despite changes in the CCM, the overall rate of active carbon transport remained double that of carbon fixation across all temperatures tested. The implication of the energetic cost of the Pt CCM in response to increasing temperatures was discussed. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11120-023-01004-2.