Minimal cobalt metabolism in the marine cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus.

ABSTRACT: Despite very low concentrations of cobalt in marine waters, cyanobacteria in the genus Prochlorococcus retain the genetic machinery for the synthesis and use of cobalt-bearing cofactors (cobalamins) in their genomes. We explore cobalt metabolism in a Prochlorococcus isolate from the equatorial Pacific Ocean (strain MIT9215) through a series of growth experiments under iron- and cobalt-limiting conditions. Metal uptake rates, quantitative proteomic measurements of cobalamin-dependent enzymes, and theoretical calculations all indicate that Prochlorococcus MIT9215 can sustain growth with less than 50 cobalt atoms per cell, ∼100-fold lower than minimum iron requirements for these cells (∼5,100 atoms per cell). Quantitative descriptions of Prochlorococcus cobalt limi

SUBMITTER: Hawco NJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7354930 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature