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Pili allow dominant marine cyanobacteria to avoid sinking and evade predation
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Aguilo-Ferretjans, Maria del Mar, Bosch, Rafael, Puxty, Richard J., Latva, Mira, Zadjelovic, Vinko, Chhun, Audam, Sousoni, Despoina, Polin, Marco, Scanlan, David J. and Christie-Oleza, Joseph A. (2021) Pili allow dominant marine cyanobacteria to avoid sinking and evade predation. Nature Communications, 12 (1). 1857. doi:10.1038/s41467-021-22152-w ISSN 2041-1723.
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WRAP-pili-allow-dominant-marine-cyanobacteria-avoid-sinking-evade-predation-Puxty-2021.pdf - Published Version - Requires a PDF viewer. Available under License Creative Commons Attribution 4.0. Download (3679Kb) | Preview |
Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-22152-w
Abstract
How oligotrophic marine cyanobacteria position themselves in the water column is currently unknown. The current paradigm is that these organisms avoid sinking due to their reduced size and passive drift within currents. Here, we show that one in four picocyanobacteria encode a type IV pilus which allows these organisms to increase drag and remain suspended at optimal positions in the water column, as well as evade predation by grazers. The evolution of this sophisticated floatation mechanism in these purely planktonic streamlined microorganisms has important implications for our current understanding of microbial distribution in the oceans and predator–prey interactions which ultimately will need incorporating into future models of marine carbon flux dynamics.
Item Type: | Journal Article | |||||||||
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Subjects: | Q Science > QR Microbiology | |||||||||
Divisions: | Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Science > Life Sciences (2010- ) | |||||||||
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Cyanobacteria , Cyanobacteria -- Ecology , Cyanobacteria -- Physiology | |||||||||
Journal or Publication Title: | Nature Communications | |||||||||
Publisher: | Nature Publishing Group | |||||||||
ISSN: | 2041-1723 | |||||||||
Official Date: | 25 March 2021 | |||||||||
Dates: |
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Volume: | 12 | |||||||||
Number: | 1 | |||||||||
Article Number: | 1857 | |||||||||
DOI: | 10.1038/s41467-021-22152-w | |||||||||
Status: | Peer Reviewed | |||||||||
Publication Status: | Published | |||||||||
Access rights to Published version: | Open Access (Creative Commons) | |||||||||
Date of first compliant deposit: | 29 March 2021 | |||||||||
Date of first compliant Open Access: | 30 March 2021 | |||||||||
RIOXX Funder/Project Grant: |
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