This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Pichard, S. L. Articles by Paul, J. H. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Pichard, S. L. Articles by Paul, J. H. Agricola Articles by Pichard, S. L. Articles by Paul, J. H.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 09 1997, 3600-3606, Vol 63, No. 9
Copyright © 1997, American Society for Microbiology

Diversity of the ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase form I gene (rbcL) in natural phytoplankton communities

SL Pichard, L Campbell and JH Paul
Department of Marine Science, University of South Florida, St. Petersburg 33701, USA.

The phytoplankton of the world's oceans play an integral part in global carbon cycling and food webs by conversion of carbon dioxide into organic carbon. They accomplish this task through the action of the Calvin cycle enzyme ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RuBisCO). Here we have investigated the phylogenetic diversity in the form I rbcL locus in natural phytoplankton communities of the open ocean and representative clones of marine autotrophic picoplankton by mRNA or DNA amplification and sequencing of a 480 to 483 bp internal fragment of this gene. Five gene sequences were recovered from nucleic acids of natural phytoplankton communities of the Gulf of Mexico. The rbcL genes of two Prochlorococcus isolates and one Synechococcus strain (WH8007) were also sequenced. Sequences were aligned with the database of rbcL genes and subjected to both neighbor-joining and parsimony analyses. The five sequences from the natural phytoplankton community spanned nearly the entire diversity of characterized form I rbcL genes, with some sequences closely related to isolates such as Synechococcus and Prochlorococcus (forms IA and I) and prymnesiophyte algae (form ID), while other sequences were deeply rooted. Unexpectedly, the deep euphotic zone contained an organism that possesses a transcriptionally active rbcL gene closely related to that of a recently characterized manganese-oxidizing bacterium, suggesting that such chemoautotrophs may contribute to the diversity of carbon-fixing organisms in the marine euphotic zone.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Badger, M. R., Bek, E. J. (2008). Multiple Rubisco forms in proteobacteria: their functional significance in relation to CO2 acquisition by the CBB cycle. J Exp Bot 59: 1525-1541 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Tabita, F. R., Hanson, T. E., Li, H., Satagopan, S., Singh, J., Chan, S. (2007). Function, Structure, and Evolution of the RubisCO-Like Proteins and Their RubisCO Homologs. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 71: 576-599 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Tolli, J., King, G. M. (2005). Diversity and Structure of Bacterial Chemolithotrophic Communities in Pine Forest and Agroecosystem Soils. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 71: 8411-8418 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Nanba, K., King, G. M., Dunfield, K. (2004). Analysis of Facultative Lithotroph Distribution and Diversity on Volcanic Deposits by Use of the Large Subunit of Ribulose 1,5-Bisphosphate Carboxylase/Oxygenase. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 70: 2245-2253 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Braker, G., Zhou, J., Wu, L., Devol, A. H., Tiedje, J. M. (2000). Nitrite Reductase Genes (nirK and nirS) as Functional Markers To Investigate Diversity of Denitrifying Bacteria in Pacific Northwest Marine Sediment Communities. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 66: 2096-2104 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Partensky, F., Hess, W. R., Vaulot, D. (1999). Prochlorococcus, a Marine Photosynthetic Prokaryote of Global Significance. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 63: 106-127 [Abstract] [Full Text]