Emergence and evolution of heterocyte glycolipid biosynthesis enabled specialized nitrogen fixation in cyanobacteria.

ABSTRACT: Heterocytes, specialized cells for nitrogen fixation in cyanobacteria, are surrounded by heterocyte glycolipids (HGs), which contribute to protection of the nitrogenase enzyme from oxygen. Diverse HGs preserve in the sediment and have been widely used as evidence of past nitrogen fixation, and structural variation has been suggested to preserve taxonomic information and reflect paleoenvironmental conditions. Here, by comprehensive HG identification and screening of HG biosynthetic gene clusters throughout cyanobacteria, we reconstruct the convergent evolutionary history of HG structure, in which different clades produce the same HGs. We find that rudimentary HG biosynthetic machinery was already present in cyanobacteria before the emergence of heterocytes for functions unrelated to nitroge

SUBMITTER: Perez Gallego R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11804610 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature