Aureochrome (AUREO) is a kind of blue light photoreceptor with both LOV and bZIP structural domains, identified only in Stramenopiles. It functions as a transcription factor that responds to blue light, playing diverse roles in the growth, development, and reproduction of Stramenopiles. Most of its functions are currently unknown, especially in the economically important alga S. japonica farmed on a large scale. This study provided a comprehensive analysis of the characteristics of AUREO gene families in seven algae, focusing on the AUREOs of S. japonica. AUREO genes were strictly identified from seven algal genomes. Then AUREO phylogenetic tree was constructed from 44 conserved AUREO genes collected. These AUREO genes were divided into five groups based on phylogenetic relationships. A total of 28 genes unnamed previously were named according to the phylogenetic tree. A large number of different cis-acting elements, especially bZIP transcription factors, were discovered upstream of AUREO genes in brown algae. Different intron/exon structural patterns were identified among all AUREOs. Transcriptomic data indicated that the expression of Sj AUREO varied significantly during the different development stages of S. japonica gametophytes. Periodic rhythms of light induction experiments indicate that Sj AUREO existed in a light-dependent circadian expression pattern, differing from other similar studies in the past. This may indicate that blue light affects gametophyte development through AUREO as a light signal receptor. This study systematically identified and analyzed the AUREO gene family in seven representative brown algae, which lay a good foundation for further study and understanding of AUERO functions in agal growth and development.

Salinity is a serious threat to most land plants. Although seaweeds adapt to salty environments, intertidal species experience wide fluctuations in external salinities, including hyper- and hypo-saline stress. Bangia fuscopurpurea is an economic intertidal seaweed with a strong tolerance to hypo-salinity. Until now, the salt stress tolerance mechanism has remained elusive. Our previous study showed that the expression of B. fuscopurpurea plasma membrane H+-ATPase (BfPMHA) genes were the most upregulated under hypo-salinity. In this study, we obtained the complete sequence of BfPMHA, traced the relative expression of this BfPMHA gene in B. fuscopurpurea under hypo-salinity, and analyzed the protein structure and properties based on the gene’s sequence. The result showed that the expression of BfPMHA in B. fuscopurpurea increased significantly with varying hypo-salinity treatments, and the higher the degree of low salinity stress, the higher the expression level. This BfPMHA had typical PMHA structures with a Cation-N domain, an E1-E2 ATPase domain, a Hydrolase domain, and seven transmembrane domains. In addition, through the membrane system yeast two-hybrid library, three candidate proteins interacting with BfPMHA during hypo-saline stress were screened, fructose–bisphosphate aldolase (BfFBA), glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (NADP+) (phosphorylating) (BfGAPDH), and manganese superoxide dismutase (BfMnSOD). The three candidates and BfPMHA genes were successfully transferred and overexpressed in a BY4741 yeast strain. All of them significantly enhanced the yeast tolerance to NaCl stress, verifying the function of BfPMHA in salt stress response. This is the first study to report the structure and topological features of PMHA in B. fuscopurpurea and its candidate interaction proteins in response to salt stress.