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Microbial Rhodopsins are Increasingly Favored over Chlorophyll in High Nutrient Low Chlorophyll waters

Babak Hassanzadeh, Blair Thomson, Fenella Deans, Jess Wenley, Scott Lockwood, Kim Currie, Sergio E. Morales, Laura Steindler, Sergio A. Sañudo-Wilhelmy, Federico Baltar, Laura Gómez-Consarnau
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.03.30.437613
Babak Hassanzadeh
1University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
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Blair Thomson
2University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
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Fenella Deans
2University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
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Jess Wenley
2University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
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Scott Lockwood
2University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
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Kim Currie
3National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, Dunedin, New Zealand
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Sergio E. Morales
2University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
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Laura Steindler
4University of Haifa, Department of Marine Biology, Leon H. Charney School of Marine Sciences, Haifa, Israel
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Sergio A. Sañudo-Wilhelmy
1University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
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Federico Baltar
5University of Vienna, Dept. of Functional & Evolutionary Ecology, Vienna, Austria
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Laura Gómez-Consarnau
1University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
6Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada, Ensenada, BC, México
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  • For correspondence: gomezcon@usc.edu
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Abstract

Microbial rhodopsins are simple light-harvesting complexes that, unlike chlorophyll photosystems, have no iron requirements for their synthesis and phototrophic functions. Here we report the first environmental concentrations of rhodopsin along the Subtropical Frontal Zone off New Zealand, where Subtropical waters encounter the iron-limited Subantarctic High Nutrient Low Chlorophyll (HNLC) region. Rhodopsin concentrations were highest in HNLC waters where chlorophyll-a concentrations were lowest. Furthermore, while the ratio of rhodopsin to chlorophyll-a photosystems was on average 20 along the transect, this ratio increased to over 60 in HNLC waters. We further show that microbial rhodopsins are abundant in both picoplankton (0.2-3μm) and in the larger (>3μm) size fractions of the microbial community containing eukaryotic plankton and/or particle-attached prokaryotes. These findings suggest that rhodopsin phototrophy could be critical for microbial plankton to adapt to resource-limiting environments where photosynthesis and possibly cellular respiration are impaired.

Originality-Significance statement High Nutrient Low Chlorophyll (HNLC) regimes cover approximately 30% of the global ocean surface and play a crucial role in the Earth’s carbon cycle. Here we show that microbial rhodopsins are particularly abundant in a HNLC region of the Subantarctic ocean, where chlorophyll abundance is relatively low and photosynthesis and respiration might be impaired due to iron limitation. These data suggest that rhodopsin phototrophy can contribute significantly to the energy budgets of HNLC regions, capturing meaningful amounts of light that cannot be channeled through photosynthesis.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission.
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Posted March 31, 2021.
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Microbial Rhodopsins are Increasingly Favored over Chlorophyll in High Nutrient Low Chlorophyll waters
Babak Hassanzadeh, Blair Thomson, Fenella Deans, Jess Wenley, Scott Lockwood, Kim Currie, Sergio E. Morales, Laura Steindler, Sergio A. Sañudo-Wilhelmy, Federico Baltar, Laura Gómez-Consarnau
bioRxiv 2021.03.30.437613; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.03.30.437613
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Microbial Rhodopsins are Increasingly Favored over Chlorophyll in High Nutrient Low Chlorophyll waters
Babak Hassanzadeh, Blair Thomson, Fenella Deans, Jess Wenley, Scott Lockwood, Kim Currie, Sergio E. Morales, Laura Steindler, Sergio A. Sañudo-Wilhelmy, Federico Baltar, Laura Gómez-Consarnau
bioRxiv 2021.03.30.437613; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.03.30.437613

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