Bacterial photosynthesis genes in a virus (original) (raw)

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• Published: 14 August 2003

Marine ecosystems

Nature volume 424, page 741 (2003)Cite this article

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A bacteriophage may protect itself and its host against a deadly effect of bright sunlight.

Abstract

Cyanobacteria contribute to the overall photosynthetic production of oxygen in the oceans, but they are susceptible to infection by viruses and also to photo-inhibition when sunlight is too intense. Here we show that the genomic sequence of one such virus, a bacteriophage known as S-PM2, encodes the D1 and D2 proteins that are key components of one of the photosynthetic reaction centres (photosystem II, PSII), which are crucial sites of damage in photo-inhibition. The presence of this virus, and others like it, in the ocean may ensure that photo-inhibition is prevented in infected cells, allowing photosynthesis to continue and therefore provide the energy needed by the virus for its replication.

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Figure 1: The bacteriophage S-PM2 (here artificially coloured blue), which infects marine cyanobacteria.

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Authors and Affiliations

1. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK
   Nicholas H. Mann, Annabel Cook, Andrew Millard, Shaun Bailey & Martha Clokie

Authors

1. Nicholas H. Mann
2. Annabel Cook
3. Andrew Millard
4. Shaun Bailey
5. Martha Clokie

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Correspondence toNicholas H. Mann.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Mann, N., Cook, A., Millard, A. et al. Bacterial photosynthesis genes in a virus.Nature 424, 741 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/424741a

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• Issue Date: 14 August 2003
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/424741a

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