CO dehydrogenase genes found in metagenomic fosmid clones from the deep mediterranean sea.

ABSTRACT: The use of carbon monoxide (CO) as a biological energy source is widespread in microbes. In recent years, the role of CO oxidation in superficial ocean waters has been shown to be an important energy supplement for heterotrophs (carboxydovores). The key enzyme CO dehydrogenase was found in both isolates and metagenomes from the ocean's photic zone, where CO is continuously generated by organic matter photolysis. We have also found genes that code for both forms I (low affinity) and II (high affinity) in fosmids from a metagenomic library generated from a 3,000-m depth in the Mediterranean Sea. Analysis of other metagenomic databases indicates that similar genes are also found in the mesopelagic and bathypelagic North Pacific and on the surfaces of this and other oceanic locations (in lower

SUBMITTER: Martin-Cuadrado AB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2786428 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature