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Unsuspected diversity among marine aerobic anoxygenic phototrophs

Author

Listed:
  • Oded Béjà

    (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
    Technion-Israel Institute of Technology)

  • Marcelino T. Suzuki

    (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute)

  • John F. Heidelberg

    (The Institute for Genomic Research)

  • William C. Nelson

    (The Institute for Genomic Research)

  • Christina M. Preston

    (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute)

  • Tohru Hamada

    (Marine Biotechnology Institute, Kamaishi Laboratories
    Nara Institute of Science and Technology)

  • Jonathan A. Eisen

    (The Institute for Genomic Research)

  • Claire M. Fraser

    (The Institute for Genomic Research)

  • Edward F. DeLong

    (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute)

Abstract

Aerobic, anoxygenic, phototrophic bacteria containing bacteriochlorophyll a (Bchla) require oxygen for both growth and Bchla synthesis1,2,3,4,5,6. 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 transport7 and 11% of the total microbial community8. 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 proposed8; rather, these assemblages contain multiple, distantly related, photosynthetically active bacterial groups, including some unrelated to known and cultivated types.

Suggested Citation

  • Oded Béjà & Marcelino T. Suzuki & John F. Heidelberg & William C. Nelson & Christina M. Preston & Tohru Hamada & Jonathan A. Eisen & Claire M. Fraser & Edward F. DeLong, 2002. "Unsuspected diversity among marine aerobic anoxygenic phototrophs," Nature, Nature, vol. 415(6872), pages 630-633, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:415:y:2002:i:6872:d:10.1038_415630a
    DOI: 10.1038/415630a
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