Microbial rhodopsins are major contributors to the solar energy captured in the sea

Gómez-Consarnau, L; Raven, JA; Levine, NM; Cutter, LS; Wang, D; Seegers, B; Arístegui, J; Fuhrman, JA; Gasol, JM; Sañudo-Wilhelmy, SA

Microbial rhodopsins are major contributors to the solar energy captured in the sea

Gómez-Consarnau, L Raven, JA

Levine, NM

Cutter, LS Wang, D Seegers, B Arístegui, J Fuhrman, JA

Gasol, JM

Sañudo-Wilhelmy, SA

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Science Advances, 2019, 5 (8)
Issue Date:: 2019-08-07

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Gómez-Consarnau, L	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Raven, JA https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2789-3297	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Levine, NM https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4963-0535	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Cutter, LS	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Wang, D	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Seegers, B	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Arístegui, J	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Fuhrman, JA https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2361-1985	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Gasol, JM https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5238-2387	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Sañudo-Wilhelmy, SA	en_US
dc.date.available	2019-06-28	en_US
dc.date.issued	2019-08-07	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Science Advances, 2019, 5 (8)	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/136095
dc.description.abstract	Copyright © 2019 The Authors, some rights reserved; All known phototrophic metabolisms on Earth rely on one of three categories of energy-converting pigments: chlorophyll-a (rarely -d), bacteriochlorophyll-a (rarely -b), and retinal, which is the chromophore in rhodopsins. While the significance of chlorophylls in solar energy capture has been studied for decades, the contribution of retinal-based phototrophy to this process remains largely unexplored. We report the first vertical distributions of the three energy-converting pigments measured along a contrasting nutrient gradient through the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The highest rhodopsin concentrations were observed above the deep chlorophyll-a maxima, and their geographical distribution tended to be inversely related to that of chlorophyll-a. We further show that proton-pumping proteorhodopsins potentially absorb as much light energy as chlorophyll-a–based phototrophy and that this energy is sufficient to sustain bacterial basal metabolism. This suggests that proteorhodopsins are a major energy-transducing mechanism to harvest solar energy in the surface ocean.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Science Advances	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1126/sciadv.aaw8855	en_US
dc.title	Microbial rhodopsins are major contributors to the solar energy captured in the sea	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	8	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	5	en_US
utslib.for	0405 Oceanography	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science
utslib.copyright.status	open_access
pubs.issue	8	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	5	en_US

Abstract:

Copyright © 2019 The Authors, some rights reserved; All known phototrophic metabolisms on Earth rely on one of three categories of energy-converting pigments: chlorophyll-a (rarely -d), bacteriochlorophyll-a (rarely -b), and retinal, which is the chromophore in rhodopsins. While the significance of chlorophylls in solar energy capture has been studied for decades, the contribution of retinal-based phototrophy to this process remains largely unexplored. We report the first vertical distributions of the three energy-converting pigments measured along a contrasting nutrient gradient through the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The highest rhodopsin concentrations were observed above the deep chlorophyll-a maxima, and their geographical distribution tended to be inversely related to that of chlorophyll-a. We further show that proton-pumping proteorhodopsins potentially absorb as much light energy as chlorophyll-a–based phototrophy and that this energy is sufficient to sustain bacterial basal metabolism. This suggests that proteorhodopsins are a major energy-transducing mechanism to harvest solar energy in the surface ocean.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/136095