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The CO2-concentrating mechanism of Synechococcus WH5701 is composed of native and horizontally-acquired components

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Abstract

The cyanobacterial CO2-concentrating mechanism (CCM) is an effective adaptation that increases the carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration around the primary photosynthetic enzyme Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate Carboxylase/Oxygenase (RuBisCO). α-Cyanobacteria (those containing Form1-A RuBisCO within cso-type α-carboxysomes) have a limited CCM composed of a small number of Ci-transporters whereas β-cyanobacteria (those species containing Form-1B RuBisCO within ccm-type β-carboxysomes) exhibit a more diverse CCM with a greater variety in Ci-transporter complement and regulation. In the coastal species Synechococcus sp. WH5701 (α-cyanobacteria), the minimal α-cyanobacterial CCM has been supplemented with β-cyanobacterial Ci transporters through the process of horizontal gene transfer (HGT). These transporters are transcriptionally regulated in response to external Ci-depletion however this change in transcript abundance is not correlated with a physiological induction. WH5701 exhibits identical physiological responses grown at 4% CO2 (K 1/2 ≈ 31 μM Ci) and after induction with 0.04% CO2 (K 1/2 ≈ 29 μM Ci). Insensitivity to external Ci concentration is an unusual characteristic of the WH5701 CCM which is a result of evolution by HGT. Our bioinformatic and physiological data support the hypothesis that WH5701 represents a clade of α-cyanobacterial species in transition from the marine/oligotrophic environment to a coastal/freshwater environment.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Loraine Tucker for her technical assistance and Dr Benedict Long for helpful discussions. GDP and MRB acknowledge support from the Australian Research Council Discovery grants scheme, and BDR from the ANU PhD scholarship scheme.

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  1. Division of Plant Science, Research School of Biology, College of Medicine, Biology and Environment, The Australian National University, Building 46, Biology Place, Canberra, ACT, 0200, Australia

    Benjamin D. Rae, Britta Förster, Murray R. Badger & G. Dean Price

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Rae, B.D., Förster, B., Badger, M.R. et al. The CO2-concentrating mechanism of Synechococcus WH5701 is composed of native and horizontally-acquired components. Photosynth Res 109, 59–72 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11120-011-9641-5

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