Author: ["Mohammad R. Seyedsayamdost","Rebecca J. Case","Roberto Kolter","Jon Clardy"]
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Abstract
Emiliania huxleyi, an environmentally important marine microalga, has a bloom-and-bust lifestyle in which massive algal blooms appear and fade. Phaeobacter gallaeciensis belongs to the roseobacter clade of α-Proteobacteria, the populations of which wax and wane with that of E. huxleyi. Roseobacter are thought to promote algal growth by biosynthesizing and secreting antibiotics and growth stimulants (auxins). Here we show that P. gallaeciensis switches its secreted small molecule metabolism to the production of potent and selective algaecides, the roseobacticides, in response to p-coumaric acid, an algal lignin breakdown product that is symptomatic of aging algae. This switch converts P. gallaeciensis into an opportunistic pathogen of its algal host. Marine bacteria and algae engage in intermittent symbioses mediated by unknown molecular signals. Here, it is shown that a chemical signal, p-coumaric acid, produced by the breakdown of algal lignin, causes the usually symbiotic bacterium Phaeobacter gallaeciensis to produce new metabolites (the roseobacticides) with potent but selective algaecidal activity. Cite this article
Seyedsayamdost, M., Case, R., Kolter, R. et al. The Jekyll-and-Hyde chemistry of Phaeobacter gallaeciensis. Nature Chem 3, 331–335 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.1002 