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Heterogeneous nitrogen fixation rates confer energetic advantage and expanded ecological niche of unicellular diazotroph populations
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SYSNO ASEP 0524918 Document Type J - Journal Article R&D Document Type Journal Article Subsidiary J Článek ve WOS Title Heterogeneous nitrogen fixation rates confer energetic advantage and expanded ecological niche of unicellular diazotroph populations Author(s) Masuda, Takako (MBU-M) ORCID
Inomura, K. (US)
Takahata, N. (JP)
Shiozaki, T. (JP)
Sano, Y. (JP)
Deutsch, C. (US)
Prášil, Ondřej (MBU-M) RID, ORCID
Furuya, K. (JP)Source Title Communications Biology. - : Nature Publishing Group
Roč. 3, č. 1 (2020), s. 172Number of pages 12 s. Language eng - English Country GB - United Kingdom Keywords vahine mesocosm experiment ; amazon river plume ; amazon river plume Subject RIV EE - Microbiology, Virology OECD category Biology (theoretical, mathematical, thermal, cryobiology, biological rhythm), Evolutionary biology R&D Projects GA16-15467S GA ČR - Czech Science Foundation (CSF) LO1416 GA MŠMT - Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MEYS) Method of publishing Open access Institutional support MBU-M - RVO:61388971 UT WOS 000527935300001 EID SCOPUS 85083460648 DOI 10.1038/s42003-020-0894-4 Annotation Nitrogen fixing plankton provide nitrogen to fuel marine ecosystems and biogeochemical cycles but the factors that constrain their growth and habitat remain poorly understood. Here we investigate the importance of metabolic specialization in unicellular diazotroph populations, using laboratory experiments and model simulations. In clonal cultures of Crocosphaera watsonii and Cyanothece sp. spiked with N-15(2), cellular N-15 enrichment developed a bimodal distribution within colonies, indicating that N-2 fixation was confined to a subpopulation. In a model of population metabolism, heterogeneous nitrogen (N-2) fixation rates substantially reduce the respiration rate required to protect nitrogenase from O-2. The energy savings from metabolic specialization is highest at slow growth rates, allowing populations to survive in deeper waters where light is low but nutrients are high. Our results suggest that heterogeneous N-2 fixation in colonies of unicellular diazotrophs confers an energetic advantage that expands the ecological niche and may have facilitated the evolution of multicellular diazotrophs.
Takako Masuda et al. show that individual cells in clonal populations of Crocosphaera watsonii and Cyanothece sp exhibit varied nitrogen fixation rates. This heterogeneity within the population decreases the energetic cost of respiration and expands the viable habitats for these unicellular diazotrophs.Workplace Institute of Microbiology Contact Eliška Spurná, eliska.spurna@biomed.cas.cz, Tel.: 241 062 231 Year of Publishing 2021 Electronic address https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-020-0894-4
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