Prochlorococcus can use the Pro1404 transporter to take up glucose at nanomolar concentrations in the Atlantic Ocean.

ABSTRACT: Prochlorococcus is responsible for a significant part of CO2 fixation in the ocean. Although it was long considered an autotrophic cyanobacterium, the uptake of organic compounds has been reported, assuming they were sources of limited biogenic elements. We have shown in laboratory experiments that Prochlorococcus can take up glucose. However, the mechanisms of glucose uptake and its occurrence in the ocean have not been shown. Here, we report that the gene Pro1404 confers capability for glucose uptake in Prochlorococcus marinus SS120. We used a cyanobacterium unable to take up glucose to engineer strains that express the Pro1404 gene. These recombinant strains were capable of specific glucose uptake over a wide range of glucose concentrations, showing multiphasic transport kinetics. The K

SUBMITTER: Munoz-Marin Mdel C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3666668 | biostudies-literature | 2013 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature