Bacterial Vesicles in Marine Ecosystems
Name
Biller et al Science_finalms + supp mat.pdf
Size
3.98 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
c9024656d412d6f9db18d16be37bb59e
Author(s)
Biller, Steven
Schubotz, Florence
Roggensack, Sara
Thompson, Anne W.
Chisholm, Sallie (Penny)
Summons, Roger E
Date Issued
January 2014
Journal
Science
Publisher
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Citation
Biller, S. J., F. Schubotz, S. E. Roggensack, A. W. Thompson, R. E. Summons, and S. W. Chisholm. “Bacterial Vesicles in Marine Ecosystems.” Science 343, no. 6167 (January 9, 2014): 183-186.
Version
Author's final manuscript
Abstract
Many heterotrophic bacteria are known to release extracellular vesicles, facilitating interactions between cells and their environment from a distance. Vesicle production has not been described in photoautotrophs, however, and the prevalence and characteristics of vesicles in natural ecosystems is unknown. Here, we report that cultures of Prochlorococcus, a numerically dominant marine cyanobacterium, continuously release lipid vesicles containing proteins, DNA, and RNA. We also show that vesicles carrying DNA from diverse bacteria are abundant in coastal and open-ocean seawater samples. Prochlorococcus vesicles can support the growth of heterotrophic bacterial cultures, which implicates these structures in marine carbon flux. The ability of vesicles to deliver diverse compounds in discrete packages adds another layer of complexity to the flow of information, energy, and biomolecules in marine microbial communities.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Biology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
Terms of Use
Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1243457
