Photolysis of iron-siderophore chelates promotes bacterial-algal mutualism.

ABSTRACT: Marine microalgae support world fisheries production and influence climate through various mechanisms. They are also responsible for harmful blooms that adversely impact coastal ecosystems and economies. Optimal growth and survival of many bloom-forming microalgae, including climatically important dinoflagellates and coccolithophores, requires the close association of specific bacterial species, but the reasons for these associations are unknown. Here, we report that several clades of Marinobacter ubiquitously found in close association with dinoflagellates and coccolithophores produce an unusual lower-affinity dicitrate siderophore, vibrioferrin (VF). Fe-VF chelates undergo photolysis at rates that are 10-20 times higher than siderophores produced by free-living marine bacteria, and unlik

SUBMITTER: Amin SA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2761308 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature