Anoxygenic Photosynthesis Controls Oxygenic Photosynthesis in a Cyanobacterium from a Sulfidic Spring
Type
ArticleAuthors
Klatt, Judith M.Alnajjar, Mohammad Ahmad

Yilmaz, Pelin
Lavik, Gaute
de Beer, Dirk
Polerecky, Lubos
KAUST Department
Red Sea Research Center (RSRC)Date
2015-01-09Online Publication Date
2015-01-09Print Publication Date
2015-03-15Permanent link to this record
http://hdl.handle.net/10754/346970
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Show full item recordAbstract
Before the Earth's complete oxygenation (0.58 to 0.55 billion years [Ga] ago), the photic zone of the Proterozoic oceans was probably redox stratified, with a slightly aerobic, nutrient-limited upper layer above a light-limited layer that tended toward euxinia. In such oceans, cyanobacteria capable of both oxygenic and sulfide-driven anoxygenic photosynthesis played a fundamental role in the global carbon, oxygen, and sulfur cycle. We have isolated a cyanobacterium, Pseudanabaena strain FS39, in which this versatility is still conserved, and we show that the transition between the two photosynthetic modes follows a surprisingly simple kinetic regulation controlled by this organism's affinity for H2S. Specifically, oxygenic photosynthesis is performed in addition to anoxygenic photosynthesis only when H2S becomes limiting and its concentration decreases below a threshold that increases predictably with the available ambient light. The carbon-based growth rates during oxygenic and anoxygenic photosynthesis were similar. However, Pseudanabaena FS39 additionally assimilated NO3 - during anoxygenic photosynthesis. Thus, the transition between anoxygenic and oxygenic photosynthesis was accompanied by a shift of the C/N ratio of the total bulk biomass. These mechanisms offer new insights into the way in which, despite nutrient limitation in the oxic photic zone in the mid-Proterozoic oceans, versatile cyanobacteria might have promoted oxygenic photosynthesis and total primary productivity, a key step that enabled the complete oxygenation of our planet and the subsequent diversification of life.Citation
Anoxygenic Photosynthesis Controls Oxygenic Photosynthesis in a Cyanobacterium from a Sulfidic Spring 2015, 81 (6):2025 Applied and Environmental MicrobiologyPublisher
American Society for MicrobiologyPubMed ID
25576611PubMed Central ID
PMC4345360Additional Links
http://aem.asm.org/lookup/doi/10.1128/AEM.03579-14ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1128/AEM.03579-14
Scopus Count
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