UCYN-A3, a newly characterized open ocean sublineage of the symbiotic N2-fixing cyanobacterium Candidatus Atelocyanobacterium thalassa

The symbiotic unicellular cyanobacterium Candidatus Atelocyanobacterium thalassa (UCYN-A) is one of the most abundant and widespread nitrogen (N-2)-fixing cyanobacteria in the ocean. Although it remains uncultivated, multiple sublineages have been detected based on partial nitrogenase (nifH) gene sequences, including the four most commonly detected sublineages UCYN-A1, UCYN-A2, UCYN-A3 and UCYN-A4. However, very little is known about UCYN-A3 beyond the nifH sequences from nifH gene diversity surveys. In this study, single cell sorting, DNA sequencing, qPCR and CARD-FISH assays revealed discrepancies involving the identification of sublineages, which led to new information on the diversity of the UCYN-A symbiosis. 16S rRNA and nifH gene sequencing on single sorted cells allowed us to identify the 16S rRNA gene of the uncharacterized UCYN-A3 sublineage. We designed new CARD-FISH probes that allowed us to distinguish and observe UCYN-A2 in a coastal location (SIO Pier; San Diego) and UCYN-A3 in an open ocean location (Station ALOHA; Hawaii). Moreover, we reconstructed about 13% of the UCYN-A3 genome from Tara Oceans metagenomic data. Finally, our findings unveil the UCYN-A3 symbiosis in open ocean waters suggesting that the different UCYN-A sublineages are distributed along different size fractions of the plankton defined by the cell-size ranges of their prymnesiophyte hosts.

del Carmen Munoz-Marin, MariaUniv Calif Santa Cruz, USA;Univ Cordoba, Spain (author)
Turk-Kubo, Kendra A.Univ Calif Santa Cruz, USA (author)
Royo-Llonch, MartaCSIC, Spain (author)
Farnelid, Hanna,1983-Linnéuniversitetet,Institutionen för biologi och miljö (BOM),Univ Calif Santa Cruz, USA,Ctr Ecol & Evolut Microbial Model Syst EEMiS(Swepub:lnu)efaha (author)
Acinas, Silvia G.CSIC, Spain (author)
Zehr, Jonathan P.Univ Calif Santa Cruz, USA (author)
Univ Calif Santa Cruz, USA;CSIC, SpainUniv Calif Santa Cruz, USA;Univ Cordoba, Spain (creator_code:org_t)

In:Environmental Microbiology: Wiley-Blackwell21:1, s. 111-1241462-29121462-2920

By the author/editor: Cornejo-Castillo ...; del Carmen Munoz ...; Turk-Kubo, Kendr ...; Royo-Llonch, Mar ...; Farnelid, Hanna, ...; Acinas, Silvia G ...; show more...; Zehr, Jonathan P ...; show less...

About the subject

NATURAL SCIENCES: NATURAL SCIENCES; and Biological Scien ...; and Microbiology

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