Evolution and metabolic significance of the urea cycle in photosynthetic diatoms

Andrew E. Allen (), Christopher L. Dupont, Miroslav Oborník, Aleš Horák, Adriano Nunes-Nesi, John P. McCrow, Hong Zheng, Daniel A. Johnson, Hanhua Hu, Alisdair R. Fernie and Chris Bowler
Additional contact information
Andrew E. Allen: J. Craig Venter Institute
Christopher L. Dupont: J. Craig Venter Institute
Miroslav Oborník: Biology Centre ASCR, Institute of Parasitology and University of South Bohemia, Faculty of Science, Branišovská 31
Aleš Horák: Biology Centre ASCR, Institute of Parasitology and University of South Bohemia, Faculty of Science, Branišovská 31
Adriano Nunes-Nesi: Max-Planck-Insitut für Molekulare Pfanzenphysiologie
John P. McCrow: J. Craig Venter Institute
Hong Zheng: J. Craig Venter Institute
Daniel A. Johnson: J. Craig Venter Institute
Hanhua Hu: CNRS UMR8197 INSERM U1024, Environmental and Evolutionary Genomics Section, Institute of Biology, Ecole Normale Supérieure, 46 rue d’Ulm
Alisdair R. Fernie: Max-Planck-Insitut für Molekulare Pfanzenphysiologie
Chris Bowler: CNRS UMR8197 INSERM U1024, Environmental and Evolutionary Genomics Section, Institute of Biology, Ecole Normale Supérieure, 46 rue d’Ulm

Nature, 2011, vol. 473, issue 7346, 203-207

Abstract: Role reversal for diatoms' urea cycle Recent genome analysis has suggested that an ornithine-urea cycle similar to that found in metazoans is present in diatoms, unicellular algae important in marine ecosystems. This was a surprise because the urea cycle had long been thought to have arisen in metazoans as a crucial pathway for cellular removal of fixed nitrogen. Functional analyses of the diatom urea-cycle enzyme carbamoyl phosphate synthase now reveal a novel role for the urea cycle in intracellular recovery of inorganic carbon and nitrogen. This pathway may contribute to the metabolic response of diatoms to episodic nitrogen availability, and may have an important role in carbon fixation into nitrogenous compounds essential for diatom growth and for the contribution of diatoms to marine productivity.

Date: 2011
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DOI: 10.1038/nature10074

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