Dataset Information

Photolysis of iron-siderophore chelates promotes bacterial-algal mutualism.

ABSTRACT: Marine microalgae support world fisheries production and influence climate through various mechanisms. They are also responsible for harmful blooms that adversely impact coastal ecosystems and economies. Optimal growth and survival of many bloom-forming microalgae, including climatically important dinoflagellates and coccolithophores, requires the close association of specific bacterial species, but the reasons for these associations are unknown. Here, we report that several clades of Marinobacter ubiquitously found in close association with dinoflagellates and coccolithophores produce an unusual lower-affinity dicitrate siderophore, vibrioferrin (VF). Fe-VF chelates undergo photolysis at rates that are 10-20 times higher than siderophores produced by free-living marine bacteria, and unlike the latter, the VF photoproduct has no measurable affinity for iron. While both an algal-associated bacterium and a representative dinoflagellate partner, Scrippsiella trochoidea, used iron from Fe-VF chelates in the dark, in situ photolysis of the chelates in the presence of attenuated sunlight increased bacterial iron uptake by 70% and algal uptake by >20-fold. These results suggest that the bacteria promote algal assimilation of iron by facilitating photochemical redox cycling of this critical nutrient. Also, binary culture experiments and genomic evidence suggest that the algal cells release organic molecules that are used by the bacteria for growth. Such mutualistic sharing of iron and fixed carbon has important implications toward our understanding of the close beneficial interactions between marine bacteria and phytoplankton, and the effect of these interactions on algal blooms and climate.

SUBMITTER: Amin SA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2761308 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Photolysis of iron-siderophore chelates promotes bacterial-algal mutualism.

Amin Shady A SA Green David H DH Hart Mark C MC Küpper Frithjof C FC Sunda William G WG Carrano Carl J CJ

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20090923 40

Marine microalgae support world fisheries production and influence climate through various mechanisms. They are also responsible for harmful blooms that adversely impact coastal ecosystems and economies. Optimal growth and survival of many bloom-forming microalgae, including climatically important dinoflagellates and coccolithophores, requires the close association of specific bacterial species, but the reasons for these associations are unknown. Here, we report that several clades of Marinobact ...[more]

PMID: 19805106

Similar Datasets

Project description:Snow algae can form large-scale blooms across the snowpack surface and near-surface environments. These pigmented blooms can decrease snow albedo and increase local melt rates, and they may impact the global heat budget and water cycle. Yet, the underlying causes for the geospatial occurrence of these blooms remain unconstrained. One possible factor contributing to snow algal blooms is the presence of mineral dust as a micronutrient source. We investigated the bioavailability of iron (Fe)-bearing minerals, including forsterite (Fo90, Mg1.8Fe0.2SiO4), goethite, smectite, and pyrite as Fe sources for a Chloromonas brevispina-bacterial coculture through laboratory-based experimentation. Fo90 was capable of stimulating snow algal growth and increased the algal growth rate in otherwise Fe-depleted cocultures. Fo90-bearing systems also exhibited a decrease in the ratio of bacteria to algae compared to those of Fe-depleted conditions, suggesting a shift in microbial community structure. The C. brevispina coculture also increased the rate of Fo90 dissolution relative to that of an abiotic control. Analysis of 16S rRNA genes in the coculture identified Gammaproteobacteria, Betaproteobacteria, and Sphingobacteria, all of which are commonly found in snow and ice environments. Archaea were not detected. Collimonas and Pseudomonas, which are known to enhance mineral weathering rates, comprised two of the top eight (>1%) operational taxonomic units (OTUs). These data provide unequivocal evidence that mineral dust can support elevated snow algal growth under otherwise Fe-depleted growth conditions and that snow algal microbial communities can enhance mineral dissolution under these conditions.IMPORTANCE Fe, a key micronutrient for photosynthetic growth, is necessary to support the formation of high-density snow algal blooms. The laboratory experiments described herein allow for a systematic investigation of the interactions of snow algae, bacteria, and minerals and their ability to mobilize and uptake mineral-bound Fe. Results provide unequivocal and comprehensive evidence that mineral-bound Fe in Fe-bearing Fo90 was bioavailable to Chloromonas brevispina snow algae within an algal-bacterial coculture. This evidence includes (i) an observed increase in snow algal density and growth rate, (ii) decreased ratios of bacteria to algae in Fo90-containing cultures relative to those of cultures grown under similarly Fe-depleted conditions with no mineral-bound Fe present, and (iii) increased Fo90 dissolution rates in the presence of algal-bacterial cocultures relative to those of abiotic mineral controls. These results have important implications for the role of mineral dust in supplying micronutrients to the snow microbiome, which may help support dense snow algal blooms capable of lowering snow albedo and increasing snow melt rates on regional, and possibly global, scales.

Project description:Iron is essential for many cellular processes and is required by bacteria for replication. To acquire iron from the host, pathogenic Gram-negative bacteria secrete siderophores, including Enterobactin (Ent). However, Ent is bound by the host protein Lipocalin 2 (Lcn2), preventing bacterial reuptake of aferric or ferric Ent. In two experiments we treated A549 (lung cancer cell line) cells with Lcn2, Ent, and iron, alone and in combination. In experiment 1, biological duplicates of 4 conditions were used: PBS control, Lcn2, Lcn2+Ent, and Lcn2+Ent+iron. In experiment 2, 4 biological replicates of 4 conditions were used: PBS control, Ent, iron, and Ent+iron. Targets made from the samples were hybridized to Affymetrix Human Gene 1.0 ST arrays to measure transcript abundances. The RMA algorithm was used to estimate transcript levels. Replicate samples were exchangeable, so we fit one-way ANOVA models to log2-transformed data separately to each experiment, and tested for pairwise differences between groups in each experiment, as well as asking if the Ent vs. PBS differences were larger or smaller than the Ent+iron vs. iron differences (Ent by iron interactions). We report results for 29096 probe-sets that were not annotated as positive or negative controls on the array. A supplementary Excel workbook is provided that contains the estimated expression level, some probe-set annotation, and simple statistical analysis for each probe-set. It may be convenient for some users, however obtaining newer probe-set annotation may be advisable. A549 (ATCC CCL-185) cells, a human type II pneumocyte cell line, were cultured in F12K (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA) media supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (Invitrogen) and 1:100 penicillin streptomycin (Invitrogen). 24-well plates were seeded with A549 cells at a concentration of 35000 cells/well. After two days, cells were weaned from serum and antibiotics overnight. Cells were then stimulated overnight with the indicated combinations of 50 uM Ferric ammonium citrate (FAC) (Sigma, St. Louis, MO), 50 um Ent (Sigma or EMC Microcollections, Tubingen, Germany), and/or 25 uM lipocalin 2 (Lcn2) in F12K media lacking serum or antibiotics. Prior to incubation with cells, siderophore-Lcn2 complexes were prepared by sequential incubation at room temperature of FAC and Ent for 30 minutes followed by addition of Lcn2 and incubation for an additional 30 minutes. In experiment 1, 2 biological replicates of each of these 4 conditions were grown: PBS, 25 uM lipocalin 2 (Lcn2), a combination of 25 uM Lcn2 with 50 uM Enterobactin (Ent), and a combination of Lcn2, Ent and 50 uM Ferric Ammonium Citrate (FAC). In experiment 2, 4 biological replicates of each of these 4 conditions were grown: PBS, 50 uM Ent, 50 uM FAC, and a combination of 50 uM Ent and 50 uM FAC. Cells were harvested and RNA was extracted using an miRNeasy Mini Kit (Qiagen). Biotinylated cDNA targets were prepared according to the Ambion WT expression kit protocol from 150 ng total RNA. There are no batches within each experiment - the samples in each group are exchangeable. Targets were hybridized to Affymetrix Human Gene 1.0 ST arrays. Arrays were scanned and quantified by usual procedures, and transcript abundances for 29096 non-control probe-sets estimated by an RMA algorithm.

Dataset Information

Photolysis of iron-siderophore chelates promotes bacterial-algal mutualism.

Publications

Photolysis of iron-siderophore chelates promotes bacterial-algal mutualism.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets