Rubisco catalyzes the CO2 fixation step in the dark reactions of photosynthesis. Transgenic expression of better-performing Rubisco orthologs in plants or discovery of improved mutants of Rubisco via ...

Background Cyanobacteria and their bioactive components represent a promising potential for the green synthesis of nanoparticles. This work investigates the physicochemical characteristics and biologi...

Roles of of viruses in ocean subsurface oxygen maxima are unclear. Here, the authors analyse Bermuda Atlantic Time Series data to show that viruses may drive SOM in stratified oceans by boosting nutri...

Nanotechnology has become a fast-growing field, and to prepare metallic nanoparticles for clinics or chemical establishments, it is mandatory that a cost-effective, eco-friendly technique be developed...

Iron limitation induces the expression of IsiA in cyanobacteria, which serves as a light-harvesting antenna for PSI. Here, authors present two PSI-IsiA structures, elucidating the assembly and functio...

In this study, the authors show that microbial rhodopsins, proteins that drive the ocean’s most widespread light-driven microbial metabolism, display overlapping distributions with algal blooms in nut...

Cyanobacteria play a key role in aggregating cryoconite granules on glacier surfaces, creating stable microhabitats that support diverse microbial communities, which influence glacier albedo and melti...

The elimination of the protein APE1 leads to a reduction in the levels of the photosynthetic RC47 complex in both plants and cyanobacteria.

Growing concern over plastic pollution has intensified research on biodegradable alternatives, such as polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), a biopolymer produced by cyanobacteria. Despite their sustainability advantages, photoautotrophic PHB production remains limited, and cultivation strategies need optimization. In this study, five cyanobacterial strains were isolated from environmental microbiome cultures to evaluate their PHB production potential. The goal was to identify the most productive strains and optimal conditions for polymer synthesis. Cultures were grown in modified BG11 media (without nitrogen, phosphorus, or inorganic carbon) and in a secondary effluent from treated urban wastewater, both supplemented with acetate (0, 0.6, or 4 g/L) and incubated for 7 days in darkness. The biomass remained stable in most strains but declined to 0.28 g/L in the secondary effluent, except for one Leptolyngbya sp. strain that increased the biomass with acetate. The highest PHB yield per acetate consumed was achieved by Synechocystis sp. from an agricultural pond, reaching 3.1% dry cell weight in modified BG11 with 0.6 g/L acetate. In the secondary effluent, the maximum PHB content reached 2.9% in another Leptolyngbya sp. strain with 4 g/L acetate. These findings highlight strain-specific responses and the potential of wastewater-based cultivation for sustainable bioplastic production.

Heterocyst differentiation in certain filamentous cyanobacteria is a multifaceted process essential for nitrogen fixation, orchestrated by a sophisticated regulatory network that encompasses several k...

UV-B light positively regulates photosynthesis in Nostoc sphaeroides CCNUC1, with the histidine kinase nsHik33 interacting with nsRpaB to regulate the tran

Nature Microbiology - Launching the IUCN Microbial Conservation Specialist Group as a global safeguard for microbial biodiversity

The simultaneous depletion of multiple nutrients in seawater potentially leads to colimitation of phytoplankton growth across large oceanic extents...

Aldehyde deformylation reaction by heme and nonheme enzymes in biology has been associated with physiologically important processes that include human steroid metabolism and biosynthesis of long-chain...

Organophosphorus pesticides (OPPs) threaten aquatic ecosystems by exacerbating cyanobacterial blooms, yet their ecotoxicological effects on algae rema…

Lipid droplets have emerged as dynamic organelles involved in diverse cellular processes beyond simple lipid storage. In plants and cyanobacteria, growing evidence highlights their importance in stres...

The photosynthetic machinery is central to energy capture in phototrophs, yet small molecules that selectively target core complexes remain scarce. He…

Cyanophages, which are bacteriophages that specifically infect host cyanobacteria, also utilize the tail to initiate host recognition and adsorption. …

Cyanobacteria perform oxygenic photosynthesis and have evolved sophisticated mechanisms to adapt their metabolism to challenging environmental changes. Despi...

Metalloproteins, which can bind with one or more metals, are the basis of many important biological processes in a marine environment. The metalloproteome data for phytoplankton are limited, hindering our understanding of trace metal requirements and their biological function in these primary producers. Here, we conducted a semiquantitative analysis of metal requirements using a protein modeling approach across several phytoplankton species, including the chlorophytes Ostreococcus tauri and Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, the haptophyte Geophyracapsa huxleyi, and the cyanobacterium Synechocystis. Our results show strong alignment between trace metal requirements inferred from the proteome and those measured by ICP-MS, with the metalloproteome providing deeper insights into the biological roles of each metal compared with ICP-MS, which indicates only cellular metal abundance. Among all metalloproteins, those containing Mg are the most abundant in all phytoplankton studied here. Among the trace elements, Zn, Fe, and Mn are the most abundant cofactors found in phytoplankton proteins. The cyanobacterium has a much higher percentage of Fe in its expressed proteome compared to the eukaryotes studied here, agreeing with findings from previous comparative genomic studies that trace element requirements are different in prokaryotic and eukaryotic phytoplankton. Using G. huxleyi strains from distinct oceanic environments, we further demonstrated that their metalloproteome can be used to identify limiting metals and understand the strategies that phytoplankton use to adapt to specific environments. These findings enhance our understanding of the interactions between biota and their metal environments.

The energetic limits of Photosystem II (PSII) photochemical reactivity required reconsideration after the discovery of far-red light acclimation responses in cyanobacteria. Insights into PSII function...