Microbes display broad diversity in cobamide preferences.

ABSTRACT: Cobamides, the vitamin B₁₂ (cobalamin) family of cofactors, are used by most organisms but produced by only a fraction of prokaryotes, and are thus considered key shared nutrients among microbes. Cobamides are structurally diverse, with multiple different cobamides found in most microbial communities. The ability to use different cobamides has been tested for several bacteria and microalgae, and nearly all show preferences for certain cobamides. This approach is limited by the commercial unavailability of cobamides other than cobalamin. Here, we have extracted and purified seven commercially unavailable cobamides to characterize bacterial cobamide preferences based on growth in specific cobamide-dependent conditions. The tested bacteria include engineered strains of Escherich

SUBMITTER: Mok KC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11580874 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature