Acrylate protects a marine bacterium from grazing by a ciliate predator

Cleavage of dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) can deter herbivores in DMSP-producing eukaryotic algae; however, it is unclear whether a parallel defence mechanism operates in marine bacteria. Here we demonstrate that the marine bacterium Puniceibacterium antarcticum SM1211, which does not use DMSP a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature Microbiology
Main Authors: Teng, Zhao-Jie, Wang, Peng, Chen, Xiu-Lan, Guillonneau, Richard, Li, Chun-Yang, Zou, Song-Bao, Gong, Jun, Xu, Kai-Wen, Han, Lin, Wang, Chao, Scanlan, David J., Chen, Yin, Zhang, Yu-Zhong
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Published: Nature Publishing Group 2021
Subjects:
QD Chemistry
QK Botany
QR Microbiology
Antarc*
Online Access:http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/158273/
http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/158273/1/WRAP-Acrylate-protects-marine-bacterium-grazing-ciliate-predator-2021.pdf
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-021-00981-1
Description
Summary:Cleavage of dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) can deter herbivores in DMSP-producing eukaryotic algae; however, it is unclear whether a parallel defence mechanism operates in marine bacteria. Here we demonstrate that the marine bacterium Puniceibacterium antarcticum SM1211, which does not use DMSP as a carbon source, has a membrane-associated DMSP lyase, DddL. At high concentrations of DMSP, DddL causes an accumulation of acrylate around cells through the degradation of DMSP, which protects against predation by the marine ciliate Uronema marinum. The presence of acrylate can alter the grazing preference of U. marinum to other bacteria in the community, thereby influencing community structure.

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