Potential for primary productivity in a globally-distributed bacterial phototroph

Aerobic anoxygenic phototrophs (AAnPs) are common in marine environments and are associated with photoheterotrophic activity. To date, AAnPs that possess the potential for carbon fixation have not been identified in the surface ocean. Using the Tara Oceans metagenomic dataset, we have identified dra...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The ISME Journal 2018-07, Vol.12 (7), p.1861-1866
Main Authors: Graham, E. D., Heidelberg, J. F., Tully, B. J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
631/326/171/1878
631/326/41/2535
Bacteria - classification
Bacteria - isolation & purification
Bacteria - metabolism
Bacteria - radiation effects
Biodiversity
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Brief Communication
Carbon
Carbon Cycle
Carbon fixation
Communities
Ecology
Evolutionary Biology
Genomes
Life Sciences
Light
Marine environment
Mediterranean Sea
Metagenomics
Microbial activity
Microbial Ecology
Microbial Genetics and Genomics
Microbiology
Microbiota
Microorganisms
Oceans
Oxidation
Photosynthesis
Phototrophic Processes
Phototrophy
Seawater - microbiology
Sulfite
Thiosulfate
Thiosulfates
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Summary:Aerobic anoxygenic phototrophs (AAnPs) are common in marine environments and are associated with photoheterotrophic activity. To date, AAnPs that possess the potential for carbon fixation have not been identified in the surface ocean. Using the Tara Oceans metagenomic dataset, we have identified draft genomes of nine bacteria that possess the genomic potential for anoxygenic phototrophy, carbon fixation via the Calvin-Benson-Bassham cycle, and the oxidation of sulfite and thiosulfate. Forming a monophyletic clade within the Alphaproteobacteria and lacking cultured representatives, the organisms compose minor constituents of local microbial communities (0.1–1.0%), but are globally distributed, present in multiple samples from the North Pacific, Mediterranean Sea, the East Africa Coastal Province, and the Atlantic. This discovery may require re-examination of the microbial communities in the oceans to understand and constrain the role this group of organisms may play in the global carbon cycle.
ISSN:1751-7362
1751-7370
DOI:10.1038/s41396-018-0091-3