Cyanobacterial symbionts diverged in the late Cretaceous towards lineage-specific nitrogen fixation factories in single-celled phytoplankton

Francisco M. Cornejo-Castillo, Ana M. Cabello, Guillem Salazar, Patricia Sánchez-Baracaldo, Gipsi Lima-Mendez, Pascal Hingamp, Adriana Alberti, Shinichi Sunagawa, Peer Bork, Colomban de Vargas, Jeroen Raes, Chris Bowler, Patrick Wincker, Jonathan P. Zehr, Josep M. Gasol, Ramon Massana and Silvia G. Acinas ()
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Francisco M. Cornejo-Castillo: Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM), CSIC
Ana M. Cabello: Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM), CSIC
Guillem Salazar: Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM), CSIC
Patricia Sánchez-Baracaldo: School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol
Gipsi Lima-Mendez: Rega Institute KU Leuven
Pascal Hingamp: Aix Marseille Université CNRS IGS UMR 7256
Adriana Alberti: CEA-Institut de Génomique, Genoscope, Centre National de Séquençage
Shinichi Sunagawa: European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Structural and Computational Biology Unit
Peer Bork: European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Structural and Computational Biology Unit
Colomban de Vargas: CNRS, UMR 7144, Station Biologique de Roscoff
Jeroen Raes: Rega Institute KU Leuven
Chris Bowler: Ecole Normale Supérieure, PSL Research University, Institut de Biologie de l’Ecole Normale Supérieure (IBENS), CNRS UMR 8197
Patrick Wincker: CEA-Institut de Génomique, Genoscope, Centre National de Séquençage
Jonathan P. Zehr: University of California
Josep M. Gasol: Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM), CSIC
Ramon Massana: Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM), CSIC
Silvia G. Acinas: Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM), CSIC

Nature Communications, 2016, vol. 7, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract The unicellular cyanobacterium UCYN-A, one of the major contributors to nitrogen fixation in the open ocean, lives in symbiosis with single-celled phytoplankton. UCYN-A includes several closely related lineages whose partner fidelity, genome-wide expression and time of evolutionary divergence remain to be resolved. Here we detect and distinguish UCYN-A1 and UCYN-A2 lineages in symbiosis with two distinct prymnesiophyte partners in the South Atlantic Ocean. Both symbiotic systems are lineage specific and differ in the number of UCYN-A cells involved. Our analyses infer a streamlined genome expression towards nitrogen fixation in both UCYN-A lineages. Comparative genomics reveal a strong purifying selection in UCYN-A1 and UCYN-A2 with a diversification process ∼91 Myr ago, in the late Cretaceous, after the low-nutrient regime period occurred during the Jurassic. These findings suggest that UCYN-A diversified in a co-evolutionary process, wherein their prymnesiophyte partners acted as a barrier driving an allopatric speciation of extant UCYN-A lineages.

Date: 2016
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:7:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms11071

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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms11071

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