Unicellular cyanobacterium symbiotic with a single-celled eukaryotic alga.
Science
; 337(6101): 1546-50, 2012 Sep 21.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-22997339
ABSTRACT
Symbioses between nitrogen (N)(2)-fixing prokaryotes and photosynthetic eukaryotes are important for nitrogen acquisition in N-limited environments. Recently, a widely distributed planktonic uncultured nitrogen-fixing cyanobacterium (UCYN-A) was found to have unprecedented genome reduction, including the lack of oxygen-evolving photosystem II and the tricarboxylic acid cycle, which suggested partnership in a symbiosis. We showed that UCYN-A has a symbiotic association with a unicellular prymnesiophyte, closely related to calcifying taxa present in the fossil record. The partnership is mutualistic, because the prymnesiophyte receives fixed N in exchange for transferring fixed carbon to UCYN-A. This unusual partnership between a cyanobacterium and a unicellular alga is a model for symbiosis and is analogous to plastid and organismal evolution, and if calcifying, may have important implications for past and present oceanic N(2) fixation.
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Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Fotossíntese
/
Fitoplâncton
/
Água do Mar
/
Simbiose
/
Cianobactérias
/
Haptófitas
/
Fixação de Nitrogênio
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Science
Ano de publicação:
2012
Tipo de documento:
Article