Microbial rhodopsins are major contributors to the solar energy captured in the sea.

ABSTRACT: All known phototrophic metabolisms on Earth rely on one of three categories of energy-converting pigments: chlorophyll-a (rarely -d), bacteriochlorophyll-a (rarely -b), and retinal, which is the chromophore in rhodopsins. While the significance of chlorophylls in solar energy capture has been studied for decades, the contribution of retinal-based phototrophy to this process remains largely unexplored. We report the first vertical distributions of the three energy-converting pigments measured along a contrasting nutrient gradient through the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The highest rhodopsin concentrations were observed above the deep chlorophyll-a maxima, and their geographical distribution tended to be inversely related to that of chlorophyl

SUBMITTER: Gomez-Consarnau L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6685716 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature