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Inherent tendency of Synechococcus and heterotrophic bacteria for mutualism on long-term coexistence despite environmental interference

Science Advances, ISSN: 2375-2548, Vol: 8, Issue: 39, Page: eabf4792
2022
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Marine phytoplankton gets by with a little help from its bacteria friends

A phytoplankton almost as old as Earth—about 3 billion years compared to the planet's 4.5 billion years—still holds secrets, including how it can survive starvation in the most nutrient-deficient oceans. Synechococcus is the most geographically diverse of three phytoplankton species, contributing to a quarter of the oceans' primary production and appearing in both frigid polar waters and warm trop

Article Description

Mutualism between Synechococcus and heterotrophic bacteria has been found to support their prolonged survival in nutrient-depleted conditions. However, environmental interference on the fate of their mutualism is not understood. Here, we show that exogenous nutrients disrupt their established mutualism. Once the exogenous nutrients were exhausted, Synechococcus and heterotrophic bacteria gradually reestablished their metabolic mutualism during 450 days of culture, which revived unhealthy Synechococcus cells. Using metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, and the N tracer method, we reveal that the associated bacterial nitrogen fixation triggered the reestablishment of the mutualism and revival of Synechococcus health. During this process, bacterial community structure and functions underwent tremendous adjustments to achieve the driving effect, and a cogeneration of nitrogen, phosphorus, iron, and vitamin by the heterotrophic bacteria sustained Synechococcus’s prolonged healthy growth. Our findings suggest that Synechococcus and heterotrophic bacteria may have an inherent tendency toward mutualism despite environmental interference. This may exhibit their coevolutionary adaptations in nutrient-deficient environments.

Bibliographic Details

Nair, Shailesh; Zhang, Zenghu; Li, Hongmei; Zhao, Hanshuang; Shen, Hui; Kao, Shuh-Ji; Jiao, Nianzhi; Zhang, Yongyu

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Multidisciplinary

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