Abstract
Aerobic, anoxygenic, phototrophic bacteria containing bacteriochlorophyll a (Bchla) require oxygen for both growth and Bchla synthesis. Recent reports suggest that these bacteria are widely distributed in marine plankton, and that they may account for up to 5% of surface ocean photosynthetic electron transport and 11% of the total microbial community. Known planktonic anoxygenic phototrophs belong to only a few restricted groups within the Proteobacteria α-subclass. Here we report genomic analyses of the photosynthetic gene content and operon organization in naturally occurring marine bacteria. These photosynthetic gene clusters included some that most closely resembled those of Proteobacteria from the β-subclass, which have never before been observed in marine environments. Furthermore, these photosynthetic genes were broadly distributed in marine plankton, and actively expressed in neritic bacterioplankton assemblages, indicating that the newly identified phototrophs were photosynthetically competent. Our data demonstrate that planktonic bacterial assemblages are not simply composed of one uniform, widespread class of anoxygenic phototrophs, as previously proposed; rather, these assemblages contain multiple, distantly related, photosynthetically active bacterial groups, including some unrelated to known and cultivated types.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 630-633 |
| Number of pages | 4 |
| Journal | Nature |
| Volume | 415 |
| Issue number | 6872 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Feb 7 2002 |
| Externally published | Yes |
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ASJC Scopus subject areas
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Cite this
Unsuspected diversity among marine aerobic anoxygenic phototrophs. / Béjà, Oded; Suzuki, Marcelino T.; Heidelberg, John F.; Nelson, William C.; Preston, Christina M.; Hamada, Tohru; Eisen, Jonathan A; Fraser, Claire M.; DeLong, Edward F.
In: Nature, Vol. 415, No. 6872, 07.02.2002, p. 630-633.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Unsuspected diversity among marine aerobic anoxygenic phototrophs
AU - Béjà, Oded
AU - Suzuki, Marcelino T.
AU - Heidelberg, John F.
AU - Nelson, William C.
AU - Preston, Christina M.
AU - Hamada, Tohru
AU - Eisen, Jonathan A
AU - Fraser, Claire M.
AU - DeLong, Edward F.
PY - 2002/2/7
Y1 - 2002/2/7
N2 - Aerobic, anoxygenic, phototrophic bacteria containing bacteriochlorophyll a (Bchla) require oxygen for both growth and Bchla synthesis. Recent reports suggest that these bacteria are widely distributed in marine plankton, and that they may account for up to 5% of surface ocean photosynthetic electron transport and 11% of the total microbial community. Known planktonic anoxygenic phototrophs belong to only a few restricted groups within the Proteobacteria α-subclass. Here we report genomic analyses of the photosynthetic gene content and operon organization in naturally occurring marine bacteria. These photosynthetic gene clusters included some that most closely resembled those of Proteobacteria from the β-subclass, which have never before been observed in marine environments. Furthermore, these photosynthetic genes were broadly distributed in marine plankton, and actively expressed in neritic bacterioplankton assemblages, indicating that the newly identified phototrophs were photosynthetically competent. Our data demonstrate that planktonic bacterial assemblages are not simply composed of one uniform, widespread class of anoxygenic phototrophs, as previously proposed; rather, these assemblages contain multiple, distantly related, photosynthetically active bacterial groups, including some unrelated to known and cultivated types.
AB - Aerobic, anoxygenic, phototrophic bacteria containing bacteriochlorophyll a (Bchla) require oxygen for both growth and Bchla synthesis. Recent reports suggest that these bacteria are widely distributed in marine plankton, and that they may account for up to 5% of surface ocean photosynthetic electron transport and 11% of the total microbial community. Known planktonic anoxygenic phototrophs belong to only a few restricted groups within the Proteobacteria α-subclass. Here we report genomic analyses of the photosynthetic gene content and operon organization in naturally occurring marine bacteria. These photosynthetic gene clusters included some that most closely resembled those of Proteobacteria from the β-subclass, which have never before been observed in marine environments. Furthermore, these photosynthetic genes were broadly distributed in marine plankton, and actively expressed in neritic bacterioplankton assemblages, indicating that the newly identified phototrophs were photosynthetically competent. Our data demonstrate that planktonic bacterial assemblages are not simply composed of one uniform, widespread class of anoxygenic phototrophs, as previously proposed; rather, these assemblages contain multiple, distantly related, photosynthetically active bacterial groups, including some unrelated to known and cultivated types.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0037033979&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0037033979&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/415630a
DO - 10.1038/415630a
M3 - Article
VL - 415
SP - 630
EP - 633
JO - Nature
JF - Nature
SN - 0028-0836
IS - 6872
ER -