Characteristics and Evolutionary Analysis of Photosynthetic Gene Clusters on Extrachromosomal Replicons: from Streamlined Plasmids to Chromids

作者：Yanting Liu, Qiang Zheng, Wenxin Lin, Nianzhi Jiao · 发表于：mSystems · 年份：2019 · DOI：10.1128/msystems.00358-19 · 被引用次数：20 · 研究领域：Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology、Protist diversity and phylogeny、Microbial Fuel Cells and Bioremediation

The evolution of photosynthesis was a significant event during the diversification of biological life. Aerobic anoxygenic photoheterotrophic bacteria (AAPB) share physiological characteristics with chemoheterotrophs and represent an important group associated with bacteriochlorophyll-dependent phototrophy in the environment. Here, characterization and evolutionary analyses were conducted for 13 bacterial strains that contained photosynthetic gene clusters (PGCs) carried by extrachromosomal replicons (ECRs) to shed light on the evolution of chlorophototrophy in bacteria. This report advances our understanding of the importance of ECRs in the transfer of PGCs within marine photoheterotrophic bacteria.