How life's forms modify and evolve the Earth: cyanobacteria (Introduction)

by David Turell , Wednesday, May 29, 2024, 15:42 (101 days ago) @ David Turell

They connect up with nanotubules:

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adj1539?utm_source=sfmc&utm_medium=email...

"Abstract:
Microbial associations and interactions drive and regulate nutrient fluxes in the ocean. However, physical contact between cells of marine cyanobacteria has not been studied thus far. Here, we show a mechanism of direct interaction between the marine cyanobacteria Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus, the intercellular membrane nanotubes. We present evidence of inter- and intra-genus exchange of cytoplasmic material between neighboring and distant cells of cyanobacteria mediated by nanotubes. We visualized and measured these structures in xenic and axenic cultures and in natural samples. We show that nanotubes are produced between living cells, suggesting that this is a relevant system of exchange material in vivo. The discovery of nanotubes acting as exchange bridges in the most abundant photosynthetic organisms in the ocean may have important implications for their interactions with other organisms and their population dynamics."

A review article:

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgzQVwnWTnWzJGCjgbDNwZxhMLSGf

"Cyanobacteria, which feed on sunlight and are commonly referred to as blue-green algae, are some of the most abundant, with just two species—Synechococcus and Prochlorococcus—responsible for a whopping one fourth of the ocean’s primary energy production. Photosynthetic bacteria also drive major changes in the availability of marine carbon, nitrogen, and other key nutrients.

"Scientists have now discovered that when Synechococcus and Prochlorococcus cells come into physical contact with one another, they interact directly using tiny, membrane-coated structures known as nanotubes . Forming these temporary “bridges,” the researchers report in a new study, may help cells absorb more nutrients by increasing their surface-to-volume ratio. Nanotubes could also allow marine microbes to exchange DNA, proteins, and other materials—a mechanism that other bacteria use to acquire genes for antibiotic resistance and form symbiotic, cross-feeding communities known as biofilms.

"The discovery of these previously overlooked structures—known from other bacteria, but not from cyanobacteria—could help explain why Synechococcus and Prochlorococcus both seem to thrive in places where nutrients are scarce, the authors note. The fact that the ocean’s most abundant photosynthetic organisms can directly exchange materials with one another, they add, “has important implications for the evolution and ecology of microbial life in the open ocean.'”

Comment: oxygen is a vital source for life. No wonder these bacteria are arranged this way to guarantee their continuing survival. A perfect example of design.