Phosphorus deficiency alleviates iron limitation in Synechocystis cyanobacteria through direct PhoB-mediated gene regulation

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 15; no. 1; pp. 4426 - 14
• Main Authors: Qiu, Guo-Wei, Zheng, Wen-Can, Yang, Hao-Ming, Wang, Yu-Ying, Qi, Xing, Huang, Da, Dai, Guo-Zheng, Shi, Huazhong, Price, Neil M., Qiu, Bao-Sheng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 24.05.2024; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 13/1; 13/31; 13/95; 38/15; 38/39; 631/326/171/1878; 631/326/41/1969; 704/158/855; Bacterial Proteins - genetics; Bacterial Proteins - metabolism; Binding sites; Chemical analysis; Constraining; Cyanobacteria; Detoxification; Essential nutrients; Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; Gene regulation; Genes; Homeostasis; Humanities and Social Sciences; Iron; Iron - metabolism; Iron deficiency; Low concentrations; multidisciplinary; Nutrient concentrations; Nutrients; Phosphorus; Phosphorus - deficiency; Phosphorus - metabolism; Phytoplankton; Plankton; Promoter Regions, Genetic - genetics; Reactive Oxygen Species - metabolism; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Seawater; Seawater - microbiology; Surface water; Synechocystis; Synechocystis - genetics; Synechocystis - metabolism; Water analysis
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-48847-4

Iron and phosphorus are essential nutrients that exist at low concentrations in surface waters and may be co-limiting resources for phytoplankton growth. Here, we show that phosphorus deficiency increases the growth of iron-limited cyanobacteria ( Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803) through a PhoB-mediated regulatory network. We find that PhoB, in addition to its well-recognized role in controlling phosphate homeostasis, also regulates key metabolic processes crucial for iron-limited cyanobacteria, including ROS detoxification and iron uptake. Transcript abundances of PhoB-targeted genes are enriched in samples from phosphorus-depleted seawater, and a conserved PhoB-binding site is widely present in the promoters of the target genes, suggesting that the PhoB-mediated regulation may be highly conserved. Our findings provide molecular insights into the responses of cyanobacteria to simultaneous iron/phosphorus nutrient limitation. Iron and phosphorus exist at low concentrations in surface waters and may be co-limiting resources for phytoplankton growth. Here, the authors show that phosphorus deficiency increases the growth of iron-limited cyanobacteria through a PhoB-mediated regulatory network.