Physiological characterization of light-enhanced growth in actinobacteria
Date
2019
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
Sunlight is a source of energy for phototrophic organisms and the ecosystems they are a part of. The concept of light utilization in primary producers is well understood in the scientific community. How sunlight acts as a signal and regulates processes in heterotrophs is a concept that is not well characterized in most species. Two heterotrophic actinobacterial strains lacking functional photosystems exhibit enhanced growth in the light. The aim of this study is to characterize the physiological effects light has on these strains. We discovered that the strains of actinobacteria- namely Rhl. lacicola and Aurantimicrobium sp strain MWH-Mo1, grow significantly better in the light than in the dark due to upregulation of sugar transport and metabolism genes in the light and protein synthesis in the dark. These actinobacterial strains have the ability to sense light and possibly utilize the byproducts of photosynthesis released by primary producers for growth. Since they are ubiquitous in freshwater ecosystems, this makes them model organisms to study the energy flow from primary producers to consumers and study the physiological effect sunlight has on these heterotrophic bacteria.