Harmful algal bloom species <i>Microcystis aeruginosa</i> releases thiamin antivitamins to suppress competitors.

ABSTRACT: In environmental ecosystems, vitamin concentrations are often exceedingly low, and auxotrophy, or reliance on exogenous vitamins or vitamin precursors, is widespread. We show here that the widespread harmful algal bloom (HAB) species Microcystis aeruginosa, threatening freshwater aquatic ecosystems globally, releases a complex mixture of thiamin antivitamins, including bacimethrin and methoxythiamin, which induce thiamin deficiency in the model green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Putative biosynthetic genes for bacimethrin were upregulated in M. aeruginosa when grown in co-culture, resulting in a greater production of bacimethrin. Bacimethrin, methoxythiamin, oxidized forms of thiamin and methoxythiamin, and a novel structural homolog of bacimethrin were all found at

SUBMITTER: Yazdani M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12345177 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature