TY - JOUR
T1 - Dynamic polyphosphate metabolism in cyanobacteria responding to phosphorus availability
AU - Li, Jiying
AU - Dittrich, Maria
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
PY - 2019/2/1
Y1 - 2019/2/1
N2 - Despite the crucial role of polyphosphate (polyP) in aquatic environments, its metabolism in cyanobacteria responding to nutrients is poorly understood. We investigate polyP in three cyanobacteria species, specifically unicellular picocyanobacteria, under various nutritional conditions. Our experiments show that the accumulation of polyP in cyanobacteria is strongly dynamic, depending on phosphate levels and growth stages. ‘Overplus’ uptake of phosphorus (P) during the lag phase leads to the rapid accumulation of polyP, followed by lower polyP quotas during the exponential growth stage as a result of competing ‘luxury’ P uptake and polyP utilization to support rapid cell division. Cyanobacteria are capable of P deficiency responses that preferentially maintain polyP. However, preferential utilization of polyP occurs under severe P stress, suggesting the crucial role of polyP as P reserve to support cellular survival. Strong variability was observed among different species of cyanobacteria in their ability to accumulate polyP, and likely in the threshold P levels at which preferential polyP degradation occurs. This suggests that some cyanobacteria may be more adaptive to P-stressed or P-fluctuating conditions. Our results explain and provide important insights into the variability of polyP observed in aquatic environments where picocyanobacteria are the dominant primary producers.
AB - Despite the crucial role of polyphosphate (polyP) in aquatic environments, its metabolism in cyanobacteria responding to nutrients is poorly understood. We investigate polyP in three cyanobacteria species, specifically unicellular picocyanobacteria, under various nutritional conditions. Our experiments show that the accumulation of polyP in cyanobacteria is strongly dynamic, depending on phosphate levels and growth stages. ‘Overplus’ uptake of phosphorus (P) during the lag phase leads to the rapid accumulation of polyP, followed by lower polyP quotas during the exponential growth stage as a result of competing ‘luxury’ P uptake and polyP utilization to support rapid cell division. Cyanobacteria are capable of P deficiency responses that preferentially maintain polyP. However, preferential utilization of polyP occurs under severe P stress, suggesting the crucial role of polyP as P reserve to support cellular survival. Strong variability was observed among different species of cyanobacteria in their ability to accumulate polyP, and likely in the threshold P levels at which preferential polyP degradation occurs. This suggests that some cyanobacteria may be more adaptive to P-stressed or P-fluctuating conditions. Our results explain and provide important insights into the variability of polyP observed in aquatic environments where picocyanobacteria are the dominant primary producers.
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U2 - 10.1111/1462-2920.14488
DO - 10.1111/1462-2920.14488
M3 - Article
C2 - 30474918
AN - SCOPUS:85058962472
SN - 1462-2912
VL - 21
SP - 572
EP - 583
JO - Environmental microbiology
JF - Environmental microbiology
IS - 2
ER -