Environmental Science
8 years ago

Ancient bacteria's light-harvesting secrets unlocked, shedding light on evolution.

Microbiology
Reconstruction of bacteriochlorophyll biosynthesis pathways in the filamentous anoxygenic phototrophic bacterium Oscillochloris trichoides DG-6 and evolution of anoxygenic phototrophs of the order Chloroflexales
Denis S. Grouzdev, Б. Б. Кузнецов, О. И. Кеппен, Е. Н. Красильникова, Н. В. Лебедева, R. N. Ivanovsky

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Green filamentous bacteria called FAPs are ancient phototrophic micro-organisms. Some FAPs make bacteriochlorophyll a without chlorosomes, while others make bacteriochlorophylls a and c with chlorosomes. The bacterium Oscillochloris trichoides DG-6 is an anaerobic autotroph that wasn't well understood. Researchers found that it has RCII and genes for making bacteriochlorophylls a and c. Aerobic FAPs have different bacteriochlorophyll gene sets than anaerobic FAPs, with aerobic FAPs having oxygen-dependent cyclases but lacking genes for low light adaptation. The study suggests an evolutionary scenario for FAPs in the Chloroflexales order.