Microbial rhodopsins are increasingly favoured over chlorophyll in High Nutrient Low Chlorophyll waters

Babak Hassanzadeh; Blair Thomson; Fenella Deans; Jess Wenley; Scott Lockwood; Kim Currie; Sergio E. Morales; Laura Steindler; Sergio A. Sañudo-Wilhelmy; Federico Baltar; Laura Gómez-Consarnau

doi:10.1111/1758-2229.12948

Microbial rhodopsins are increasingly favoured over chlorophyll in High Nutrient Low Chlorophyll waters

Babak Hassanzadeh, Blair Thomson, Fenella Deans, Jess Wenley, Scott Lockwood, Kim Currie, Sergio E. Morales, Laura Steindler, Sergio A. Sañudo-Wilhelmy, Federico Baltar, Laura Gómez-Consarnau

Department of Marine Biology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Microbial rhodopsins are simple light-harvesting complexes that, unlike chlorophyll photosystems, have no iron requirements for their synthesis and phototrophic functions. Here, we report the environmental concentrations of rhodopsin along the Subtropical Frontal Zone off New Zealand, where Subtropical waters encounter the iron-limited Subantarctic High Nutrient Low Chlorophyll (HNLC) region. Rhodopsin concentrations were highest in HNLC waters where chlorophyll-a concentrations were lowest. Furthermore, while the ratio of rhodopsin to chlorophyll-a photosystems was on average 20 along the transect, this ratio increased to over 60 in HNLC waters. We further show that microbial rhodopsins are abundant in both picoplankton (0.2–3 μm) and in the larger (>3 μm) size fractions of the microbial community containing eukaryotic plankton and/or particle-attached prokaryotes. These findings suggest that rhodopsin phototrophy could be critical for microbial plankton to adapt to resource-limiting environments where photosynthesis and possibly cellular respiration are impaired.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	401-406
Number of pages	6
Journal	Environmental Microbiology Reports
Volume	13
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/1758-2229.12948
State	Published - Jun 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank the captain and crew of R/V Polaris II, and Hannah Adams for her assistance with pigment extractions. This research was supported by Grant No OCE1924464 from the United States National Science Foundation (NSF) to L.G.‐C. and by Grant No 2019612 from the United States‐Israel Binational Science Foundation (BSF) to L.S., as well as the Rutherford Discovery Fellowship to F.B.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Agricultural and Biological Sciences (miscellaneous)

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10.1111/1758-2229.12948

Cite this

Hassanzadeh, B., Thomson, B., Deans, F., Wenley, J., Lockwood, S., Currie, K., Morales, S. E., Steindler, L., Sañudo-Wilhelmy, S. A., Baltar, F., & Gómez-Consarnau, L. (2021). Microbial rhodopsins are increasingly favoured over chlorophyll in High Nutrient Low Chlorophyll waters. Environmental Microbiology Reports, 13(3), 401-406. https://doi.org/10.1111/1758-2229.12948

@article{cda3008d99154c4ea84e948769e2c05c,

title = "Microbial rhodopsins are increasingly favoured over chlorophyll in High Nutrient Low Chlorophyll waters",

abstract = "Microbial rhodopsins are simple light-harvesting complexes that, unlike chlorophyll photosystems, have no iron requirements for their synthesis and phototrophic functions. Here, we report the environmental concentrations of rhodopsin along the Subtropical Frontal Zone off New Zealand, where Subtropical waters encounter the iron-limited Subantarctic High Nutrient Low Chlorophyll (HNLC) region. Rhodopsin concentrations were highest in HNLC waters where chlorophyll-a concentrations were lowest. Furthermore, while the ratio of rhodopsin to chlorophyll-a photosystems was on average 20 along the transect, this ratio increased to over 60 in HNLC waters. We further show that microbial rhodopsins are abundant in both picoplankton (0.2–3 μm) and in the larger (>3 μm) size fractions of the microbial community containing eukaryotic plankton and/or particle-attached prokaryotes. These findings suggest that rhodopsin phototrophy could be critical for microbial plankton to adapt to resource-limiting environments where photosynthesis and possibly cellular respiration are impaired.",

author = "Babak Hassanzadeh and Blair Thomson and Fenella Deans and Jess Wenley and Scott Lockwood and Kim Currie and Morales, {Sergio E.} and Laura Steindler and Sa{\~n}udo-Wilhelmy, {Sergio A.} and Federico Baltar and Laura G{\'o}mez-Consarnau",

note = "Funding Information: The authors would like to thank the captain and crew of R/V Polaris II, and Hannah Adams for her assistance with pigment extractions. This research was supported by Grant No OCE1924464 from the United States National Science Foundation (NSF) to L.G.‐C. and by Grant No 2019612 from the United States‐Israel Binational Science Foundation (BSF) to L.S., as well as the Rutherford Discovery Fellowship to F.B. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.",

year = "2021",

month = jun,

doi = "10.1111/1758-2229.12948",

language = "English",

volume = "13",

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Hassanzadeh, B, Thomson, B, Deans, F, Wenley, J, Lockwood, S, Currie, K, Morales, SE, Steindler, L, Sañudo-Wilhelmy, SA, Baltar, F & Gómez-Consarnau, L 2021, 'Microbial rhodopsins are increasingly favoured over chlorophyll in High Nutrient Low Chlorophyll waters', Environmental Microbiology Reports, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 401-406. https://doi.org/10.1111/1758-2229.12948

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T1 - Microbial rhodopsins are increasingly favoured over chlorophyll in High Nutrient Low Chlorophyll waters

AU - Hassanzadeh, Babak

AU - Thomson, Blair

AU - Deans, Fenella

AU - Wenley, Jess

AU - Lockwood, Scott

AU - Currie, Kim

AU - Morales, Sergio E.

AU - Steindler, Laura

AU - Sañudo-Wilhelmy, Sergio A.

AU - Baltar, Federico

AU - Gómez-Consarnau, Laura

N1 - Funding Information: The authors would like to thank the captain and crew of R/V Polaris II, and Hannah Adams for her assistance with pigment extractions. This research was supported by Grant No OCE1924464 from the United States National Science Foundation (NSF) to L.G.‐C. and by Grant No 2019612 from the United States‐Israel Binational Science Foundation (BSF) to L.S., as well as the Rutherford Discovery Fellowship to F.B. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

PY - 2021/6

Y1 - 2021/6

N2 - Microbial rhodopsins are simple light-harvesting complexes that, unlike chlorophyll photosystems, have no iron requirements for their synthesis and phototrophic functions. Here, we report the environmental concentrations of rhodopsin along the Subtropical Frontal Zone off New Zealand, where Subtropical waters encounter the iron-limited Subantarctic High Nutrient Low Chlorophyll (HNLC) region. Rhodopsin concentrations were highest in HNLC waters where chlorophyll-a concentrations were lowest. Furthermore, while the ratio of rhodopsin to chlorophyll-a photosystems was on average 20 along the transect, this ratio increased to over 60 in HNLC waters. We further show that microbial rhodopsins are abundant in both picoplankton (0.2–3 μm) and in the larger (>3 μm) size fractions of the microbial community containing eukaryotic plankton and/or particle-attached prokaryotes. These findings suggest that rhodopsin phototrophy could be critical for microbial plankton to adapt to resource-limiting environments where photosynthesis and possibly cellular respiration are impaired.

AB - Microbial rhodopsins are simple light-harvesting complexes that, unlike chlorophyll photosystems, have no iron requirements for their synthesis and phototrophic functions. Here, we report the environmental concentrations of rhodopsin along the Subtropical Frontal Zone off New Zealand, where Subtropical waters encounter the iron-limited Subantarctic High Nutrient Low Chlorophyll (HNLC) region. Rhodopsin concentrations were highest in HNLC waters where chlorophyll-a concentrations were lowest. Furthermore, while the ratio of rhodopsin to chlorophyll-a photosystems was on average 20 along the transect, this ratio increased to over 60 in HNLC waters. We further show that microbial rhodopsins are abundant in both picoplankton (0.2–3 μm) and in the larger (>3 μm) size fractions of the microbial community containing eukaryotic plankton and/or particle-attached prokaryotes. These findings suggest that rhodopsin phototrophy could be critical for microbial plankton to adapt to resource-limiting environments where photosynthesis and possibly cellular respiration are impaired.

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U2 - 10.1111/1758-2229.12948

DO - 10.1111/1758-2229.12948

M3 - Article

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SN - 1758-2229

VL - 13

SP - 401

EP - 406

JO - Environmental Microbiology Reports

JF - Environmental Microbiology Reports

IS - 3

ER -

Microbial rhodopsins are increasingly favoured over chlorophyll in High Nutrient Low Chlorophyll waters

Abstract

Bibliographical note

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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