TY - JOUR
T1 - Intracellular Ca-carbonate biomineralization is widespread in cyanobacteria
AU - Benzerara, Karim
AU - Skouri-Panet, Feriel
AU - Li, Jinhua
AU - Férard, Céline
AU - Gugger, Muriel
AU - Laurent, Thierry
AU - Couradeau, Estelle
AU - Ragon, Marie
AU - Cosmidis, Julie
AU - Menguy, Nicolas
AU - Margaret-Oliver, Isabel
AU - Tavera, Rosaluz
AU - López-Garćia, Purificación
AU - Moreira, David
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - Cyanobacteria have played a significant role in the formation of past and modern carbonate deposits at the surface of the Earth using a biomineralization process that has been almost systematically considered induced and extracellular. Recently, a deep-branching cyanobacterial species, Candidatus Gloeomargarita lithophora, was reported to form intracellular amorphous Ca-rich carbonates. However, the significance and diversity of the cyanobacteria in which intracellular biomineralization occurs remain unknown. Here, we searched for intracellular Cacarbonate inclusions in 68 cyanobacterial strains distributed throughout the phylogenetic tree of cyanobacteria. We discovered that diverse unicellular cyanobacterial taxa form intracellular amorphous Ca-carbonates with at least two different distribution patterns, suggesting the existence of at least two distinctmechanisms of biomineralization: (i) one with Ca-carbonate inclusions scattered within the cell cytoplasm such as in Ca. G. lithophora, and (ii) another one observed in strains belonging to the Thermosynechococcus elongatus BP-1 lineage, in which Ca-carbonate inclusions lie at the cell poles. This pattern seems to be linked with the nucleation of the inclusions at the septum of the cells, showing an intricate and original connection between cell division and biomineralization. These findings indicate that intracellular Ca-carbonate biomineralization by cyanobacteria has been overlooked by past studies and open new perspectives on the mechanisms and the evolutionary history of intra- and extracellular Ca-carbonate biomineralization by cyanobacteria.
AB - Cyanobacteria have played a significant role in the formation of past and modern carbonate deposits at the surface of the Earth using a biomineralization process that has been almost systematically considered induced and extracellular. Recently, a deep-branching cyanobacterial species, Candidatus Gloeomargarita lithophora, was reported to form intracellular amorphous Ca-rich carbonates. However, the significance and diversity of the cyanobacteria in which intracellular biomineralization occurs remain unknown. Here, we searched for intracellular Cacarbonate inclusions in 68 cyanobacterial strains distributed throughout the phylogenetic tree of cyanobacteria. We discovered that diverse unicellular cyanobacterial taxa form intracellular amorphous Ca-carbonates with at least two different distribution patterns, suggesting the existence of at least two distinctmechanisms of biomineralization: (i) one with Ca-carbonate inclusions scattered within the cell cytoplasm such as in Ca. G. lithophora, and (ii) another one observed in strains belonging to the Thermosynechococcus elongatus BP-1 lineage, in which Ca-carbonate inclusions lie at the cell poles. This pattern seems to be linked with the nucleation of the inclusions at the septum of the cells, showing an intricate and original connection between cell division and biomineralization. These findings indicate that intracellular Ca-carbonate biomineralization by cyanobacteria has been overlooked by past studies and open new perspectives on the mechanisms and the evolutionary history of intra- and extracellular Ca-carbonate biomineralization by cyanobacteria.
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U2 - 10.1073/pnas.1403510111
DO - 10.1073/pnas.1403510111
M3 - Article
C2 - 25009182
AN - SCOPUS:84905027571
SN - 0027-8424
VL - 111
SP - 10933
EP - 10938
JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
IS - 30
ER -