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Isolation and characterization of Erythrobacter sp. strains from the upper ocean

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Abstract

Seven strains of marine aerobic anoxygenic phototrophs belonging to the genus Erythrobacter were isolated. The strains were characterized regarding their physiological and biochemical properties, 16S rDNA and pufM gene sequences, morphological features, substrate preference, as well as pigment and lipid composition. All strains had functional type-2 reaction centers containing bacteriochlorophyll, served by small, light-harvesting complex 1, and were photosynthetically competent. In addition, large pools of carotenoids were found, but only some of the accessory pigments transfer energy to the reaction centers. All of the isolates were facultative photoheterotrophs. They required an organic carbon substrate for growth; however, they are able to supplement a significant fraction of their metabolic requirements with photosynthetically derived energy.

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Abbreviations

BChl :

Bacteriochlorophyll

Chl :

Chlorophyll

Erb.:

Erythrobacter

Erm. :

Erythromicrobium

FAMEs :

Fatty acid methyl esters

IRFRR :

Infrared fast repetition rate

LH1, LH2 :

Light-harvesting complex 1 and 2, respectively

Por.:

Porphyrobacter

PUFAs :

Polyunsaturated fatty acids

Rsb.:

Roseobacter

RubisCO :

Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase

µ :

Growth rate

σ 470 :

Functional cross-section of the photosynthetic unit at 470 nm

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Maxim Gorbunov, Michael Behrenfeld, Yoram Gerchman and Ondrej Prasil for supplying the water samples, and Kevin Wyman for laboratory assistance. This research was supported by Rutgers University through a Post-doctoral Research Fellowship to MK and by grants from NSF (Biocomplexity to PGF, and OCE-022095 to ZSK), EEC-9731725 (RRB) and OCE-9617409 (RRB), from NASA NAG5-7171 (RRB) and NAGW-3439 (RRB) and from Czech MSMT projects LN00A141 and MSM12310001 (MK) and GACR 206/03/P079 (MK).

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Author notes

  1. Michal Koblížek

    Present address: Institute of Microbiology, Opatovický mlýn, 379 81, Třeboň, Czechia

  2. Zbigniew S. Kolber

    Present address: MBARI, 7700 Sandholdt Road, Moss Landing, CA 95039, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Biophysics and Molecular Ecology Program, Rutgers University, 71 Dudley Road, Institute of Coastal and Marine Sciences, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA

    Michal Koblížek, Marcin K. Kolber, Paul G. Falkowski & Zbigniew S. Kolber

  2. Department of Biology, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, 32000, Haifa, Israel

    Oded Béjà

  3. Department of Oceanography, University of Hawai'i at Manoa, 1000 Pope Road, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA

    Robert R. Bidigare, Stephanie Christensen & Bryan Benitez-Nelson

  4. Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Rutgers University, 76 Lipman Drive, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA

    Costantino Vetriani

  5. Department of Geology, Rutgers University, 610 Taylor Road, Piscataway, NJ 08854-8066, USA

    Paul G. Falkowski

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  1. Michal Koblížek
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Correspondence to Michal Koblížek.

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Koblížek, M., Béjà, O., Bidigare, R.R. et al. Isolation and characterization of Erythrobacter sp. strains from the upper ocean. Arch Microbiol 180, 327–338 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00203-003-0596-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00203-003-0596-6

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