RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Molecular mechanisms of microbiome modulation by the diatom secondary metabolite azelaic acid
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2022.04.08.487398
DO 10.1101/2022.04.08.487398
A1 Shibl, Ahmed A.
A1 Ochsenkühn, Michael A.
A1 Mohamed, Amin R.
A1 Coe, Lisa
A1 Yun, Yejie
A1 Amin, Shady A.
YR 2022
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2022/04/10/2022.04.08.487398.abstract
AB Photosynthetic eukaryotes, such as plants and microalgae, modulate their microbiome using the dicarboxylate metabolite azelaic acid (Aze), a molecule that is used as a carbon source for some heterotrophs but is toxic to others. Uptake and assimilation mechanisms of Aze into bacterial cells are mostly unknown, nor its ability to promote or inhibit growth. Here, we use transcriptomics, isotope labeling, and coexpression networks of master transcriptional factors in two marine bacteria to identify the first putative Aze transporter in bacteria, map Aze catabolism through fatty acid degradation and downstream pathways, infer Aze toxicity to the ribosome, and show that Aze catabolism is restricted to 13 bacterial families across terrestrial and marine ecosystems dominated by algal and plant symbionts. Seawater mesocosms amended with Aze enrich for bacterial families that are able to catabolise Aze. These findings shed light on the role of infochemicals in modulating eukaryote-microbiome interactions across diverse ecosystems.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.