Toward a genetic system in the marine cyanobacterium<i>Prochlorococcus</i>

Laurenceau, Raphaël; Bliem, Christina; Osburne, Marcia S.; Becker, Jamie W.; Biller, Steven J.; Cubillos-Ruiz, Andrés; Chisholm, Sallie W.

doi:10.1101/820027

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 91 publications

(104 reference statements)

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“…The discovery of organic compounds utilization by Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus has profound implications for the understanding of marine microbial ecology. The substrate specificity, kinetics, and regulation of most transporters annotated in marine picocyanobacterial genomes remain an open question, requiring molecular analysis for confirmation; in this regard, the development of a genetic system in Prochlorococcus [87] will be an invaluable tool. The pathways for assimilation of the different compounds, and their relative contribution to the nutrition of the cells, should also be analyzed in detail to understand the impact of mixotrophy on the growth of marine cyanobacterial populations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mixotrophy in marine picocyanobacteria: use of organic compounds by Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus

et al. 2020

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Marine picocyanobacteria of the Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus genera have been longtime considered as autotrophic organisms. However, compelling evidence published over the last 15 years shows that these organisms can use different organic compounds containing key elements to survive in oligotrophic oceans, such as N (amino acids, amino sugars), S (dimethylsulfoniopropionate, DMSP), or P (ATP). Furthermore, marine picocyanobacteria can also take up glucose and use it as a source of carbon and energy, despite the fact that this compound is devoid of limiting elements and can also be synthesized by using standard metabolic pathways. This review will outline the main findings suggesting mixotrophy in the marine picocyanobacteria Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus, and its ecological relevance for these important primary producers.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mixotrophy in marine picocyanobacteria: use of organic compounds by Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus

et al. 2020

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Frequency of mispackaging ofProchlorococcusDNA by cyanophage

Raho

Laurenceau

Forget

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Prochlorococcus cells are the numerically dominant phototrophs in the open ocean. Cyanophages that infect them are thus a notable fraction of the total viral population in the euphotic zone, and, as vehicles of horizontal gene transfer, appear to drive their evolution. Here we examine the propensity of three cyanophages -a podovirus, a siphovirus, and a myovirus -to mispackage host DNA in their capsids while infecting Prochlorococcus , the first step in phage-mediated horizontal gene transfer. We find the mispackaging frequencies are distinctly different among the three phages. Myoviruses mispackage host DNA at low and stable frequencies, while podo-and siphoviruses vary in their mispackaging frequencies by orders of magnitude depending on growth light intensity. We attribute this difference to the concentration of intracellular reactive oxygen species and protein synthesis rates. Based on our findings, we propose a model of mispackaging frequency determined by the imbalance between the production of capsids and the number of phage genome copies during infection. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONHost DNA mispackaging frequency in cyanophage capsids. Using six different loci on the Prochlorococcus MED4 chromosome (representative of the entire chromosome, see Table 3), we quantified the level of mispackaging of MED4 DNA in the capsids of the three different cyanophages (Fig. 1A, Table 2) during infection (Fig. 1B, C). The packaging strategy of the podovirus is T7-like [26] , the myovirus' is likely T4-like headful packaging [27] while the siphovirus' is unknown, but 490 bp direct terminal repeats suggest a T7-like packaging mechanism [28] . Host DNA was detected in the capsids of all 3 cyanophages (Fig. 1C). The levels of mispackaging are low compared to those reported for high transducing phages in S. aureus [29] for example, but comparable to levels (~10 PPM) reported for the marine Synechococcus cyanophage S-PM2 [30] . Corresponding gene Putative functionPrimer sequences (forward and reverse, 5'-3')

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DNA ligases of Prochlorococcus marinus: an evolutionary exception to the rules of replication

Hjerde

Maguren

Rzoska-Smith

et al. 2020

Preprint

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DNA ligases, essential enzymes which re-join the backbone of DNA come in two structurallydistinct isoforms, NAD-dependent and ATP-dependent, which differ in cofactor usage. The present view is that all bacteria exclusively use NAD-dependent DNA ligases for DNA replication, while archaea and eukaryotes use ATP-dependent DNA ligases. Some bacteria also possess auxiliary ATP-dependent DNA ligases; however, these are only employed for specialist DNA repair processes. Here we show that in the genomes of high-light strains of the marine cyanobacterium Prochlorococcocus marinus, an ATP-dependent DNA ligase has replaced the NAD-dependent form, overturning the present paradigm of a clear evolutionary split in ligase usage. Genes encoding partial NAD-dependent DNA ligases are found on mobile regions in highlight genomes and lack domains required for catalytic function. This constitutes the first reported example of a bacterium that relies on an ATP-dependent DNA ligase for DNA replication and recommends P. marinus as a model to investigate the evolutionary origins of these essential DNA-processing enzymes.

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Toward a genetic system in the marine cyanobacteriumProchlorococcus

Cited by 3 publications

References 91 publications

Mixotrophy in marine picocyanobacteria: use of organic compounds by Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus

Mixotrophy in marine picocyanobacteria: use of organic compounds by Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus

Frequency of mispackaging ofProchlorococcusDNA by cyanophage

DNA ligases of Prochlorococcus marinus: an evolutionary exception to the rules of replication

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