Methylphosphonate Oxidation in Prochlorococcus Strain MIT9301 Supports Phosphate Acquisition, Formate Excretion, and Carbon Assimilation into Purines.

ABSTRACT: The marine unicellular cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus is an abundant primary producer and widespread inhabitant of the photic layer in tropical and subtropical marine ecosystems, where the inorganic nutrients required for growth are limiting. In this study, we demonstrate that Prochlorococcus high-light strain MIT9301, an isolate from the phosphate-depleted subtropical North Atlantic Ocean, can oxidize methylphosphonate (MPn) and hydroxymethylphosphonate (HMPn), two phosphonate compounds present in marine dissolved organic matter, to obtain phosphorus. The oxidation of these phosphonates releases the methyl group as formate, which is both excreted and assimilated into purines in RNA and DNA. Genes encoding the predicted phosphonate oxidative pathway of MIT9301 were predominan

SUBMITTER: Sosa OA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6581173 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature