Abstract Carbon isotope biosignatures preserved in the Precambrian geologic record are primarily interpreted to reflect ancient cyanobacterial carbon fixation catalyzed by Form I RuBisCO enzymes. The average range of isotopic biosignatures generally follows that produced by extant cyanobacteria. However, this observation is difficult to reconcile with several environmental (e.g., temperature, pH, and CO2concentrations), molecular, and physiological factors that likely would have differed during the Precambrian and can produce fractionation variability in contemporary organisms that meets or exceeds that observed in the geologic record. To test a specific range of genetic and environmental factors that may impact ancient carbon isotope biosignatures, we engineered a mutant strain of the model cyanobacteriumSynechococcus elongatusPCC 7942 that overexpresses RuBisCO across varying atmospheric CO2concentrations. We hypothesized that changes in RuBisCO expression would impact the net rates of intracellular CO2fixation versus CO2supply, and thus whole‐cell carbon isotope discrimination. In particular, we investigated the impacts of RuBisCO overexpression under changing CO2concentrations on both carbon isotope biosignatures and cyanobacterial physiology, including cell growth and oxygen evolution rates. We found that an increased pool of active RuBisCO does not significantly affect the13C/12C isotopic discrimination (εp) at all tested CO2concentrations, yielding εpof ≈ 23‰ for both wild‐type and mutant strains at elevated CO2. We therefore suggest that expected variation in cyanobacterial RuBisCO expression patterns should not confound carbon isotope biosignature interpretation. A deeper understanding of environmental, evolutionary, and intracellular factors that impact cyanobacterial physiology and isotope discrimination is crucial for reconciling microbially driven carbon biosignatures with those preserved in the geologic record.
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Temperature sensitivity of carbon concentrating mechanisms in the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum
Abstract Marine diatoms are key primary producers across diverse habitats in the global ocean. Diatoms rely on a biophysical carbon concentrating mechanism (CCM) to supply high concentrations of CO2around their carboxylating enzyme, RuBisCO. The necessity and energetic cost of the CCM are likely to be highly sensitive to temperature, as temperature impacts CO2concentration, diffusivity, and the kinetics of CCM components. Here, we used membrane inlet mass spectrometry (MIMS) and modeling to capture temperature regulation of the CCM in the diatomPhaeodactylum tricornutum (Pt). We found that enhanced carbon fixation rates byPtat elevated temperatures were accompanied by increased CCM activity capable of maintaining RuBisCO close to CO2saturation but that the mechanism varied. At 10 and 18 °C, diffusion of CO2into the cell, driven byPt’s ‘chloroplast pump’ was the major inorganic carbon source. However, at 18 °C, upregulation of the chloroplast pump enhanced (while retaining the proportion of) both diffusive CO2and active HCO3−uptake into the cytosol, and significantly increased chloroplast HCO3−concentrations. In contrast, at 25 °C, compared to 18 °C, the chloroplast pump had only a slight increase in activity. While diffusive uptake of CO2into the cell remained constant, active HCO3−uptake across the cell membrane increased resulting inPtdepending equally on both CO2and HCO3−as inorganic carbon sources. Despite changes in the CCM, the overall rate of active carbon transport remained double that of carbon fixation across all temperatures tested. The implication of the energetic cost of thePtCCM in response to increasing temperatures was discussed.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1744645
- PAR ID:
- 10469652
- Publisher / Repository:
- Photosynthesis Research
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Photosynthesis Research
- Volume:
- 156
- Issue:
- 2
- ISSN:
- 0166-8595
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 205 to 215
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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