Mechanisms of increased Trichodesmium fitness under iron and phosphorus co-limitation in the present and future ocean
Walworth, N.G.; Fu, F.-X.; Webb, E.A.; Saito, M.A.; Moran, D.; Mcllvin, M.R.; Lee, M.D.; Hutchins, D.A. (2016). Mechanisms of increased Trichodesmium fitness under iron and phosphorus co-limitation in the present and future ocean. Nature Comm. 7(12081): 11 pp. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms12081
In: Nature Communications. Nature Publishing Group: London. ISSN 2041-1723; e-ISSN 2041-1723, more
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| Authors | | Top |
- Walworth, N.G.
- Fu, F.-X.
- Webb, E.A.
- Saito, M.A.
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- Moran, D.
- Mcllvin, M.R.
- Lee, M.D.
- Hutchins, D.A.
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| Abstract |
Nitrogen fixation by cyanobacteria supplies critical bioavailable nitrogen to marine ecosystems worldwide; however, field and lab data have demonstrated it to be limited by iron, phosphorus and/or CO2. To address unknown future interactions among these factors, we grew the nitrogen-fixing cyanobacterium Trichodesmium for 1 year under Fe/P co-limitation following 7 years of both low and high CO2 selection. Fe/P co-limited cell lines demonstrated a complex cellular response including increased growth rates, broad proteome restructuring and cell size reductions relative to steady-state growth limited by either Fe or P alone. Fe/P co-limitation increased abundance of a protein containing a conserved domain previously implicated in cell size regulation, suggesting a similar role in Trichodesmium. Increased CO2 further induced nutrient-limited proteome shifts in widespread core metabolisms. Our results thus suggest that N-2-fixing microbes may be significantly impacted by interactions between elevated CO2 and nutrient limitation, with broad implications for global biogeochemical cycles in the future ocean. |
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