Phytoplankton Biochemistry & Cell Function

Phytoplankton drive marine productivity and global biogeochemical cycles through their biochemical composition and cellular processes. At the Hutchins-Fu Lab, we study how environmental stressors—such as nutrient limitation, temperature shifts, and ultraviolet radiation—alter the internal chemistry, metabolic activity, and ecological role of marine phytoplankton.

Focus Areas

1. Elemental Stoichiometry and Climate Change
We investigate how phytoplankton adjust their internal carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and iron ratios under warming and nutrient-limited conditions. These shifts alter both cellular efficiency and the broader cycling of nutrients and carbon in the ocean.

• Example: Our 2024 Nature Geoscience paper explored how phytoplankton feedbacks influence nutrient cycles under warming conditions.
• Our studies show that environmental changes can decouple elemental ratios from traditional Redfield patterns, with implications for productivity and export flux.

2. Nutrient Co-Limitation and Adaptive Physiology
Phytoplankton in the open ocean often experience multiple simultaneous resource limitations. We examine how co-limitation by iron and phosphorus affects metabolism, gene expression, and growth dynamics.

• In Crocosphaera, we identified coordinated molecular responses to Fe–P co-limitation (2022 ISME Journal), revealing how cells integrate multiple stress signals.

3. Proteomic Shifts Under Thermal and Metal Stress
We use proteomics to analyze how phytoplankton rewire their biochemistry in response to heat and trace metal availability. In Synechococcus, we’ve shown distinct protein expression profiles between coastal and oceanic ecotypes under warming and iron limitation (2024 Frontiers in Microbiology).

4. UV Radiation, Viral Interactions, and Toxicity
Environmental stressors modify phytoplankton-virus dynamics and toxin production. Our lab demonstrated that UV radiation can reduce virus-driven impacts on host phytoplankton under warming (2025 Plant Cell and Environment), and that warming can increase domoic acid toxicity in Pseudo-nitzschia (2023 Harmful Algae).

Why It Matters

Phytoplankton biochemistry connects cellular stress responses to global-scale processes. Understanding how these organisms adjust their internal function under climate change helps refine predictions of ocean productivity, carbon sequestration, and ecosystem health.