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Science 14 November 2008:
Vol. 322. no. 5904, pp. 1110 - 1112
DOI: 10.1126/science.1165340
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Reports

Globally Distributed Uncultivated Oceanic N2-Fixing Cyanobacteria Lack Oxygenic Photosystem II

Jonathan P. Zehr,1* Shellie R. Bench,1 Brandon J. Carter,1 Ian Hewson,1 Faheem Niazi,2 Tuo Shi,1 H. James Tripp,1 Jason P. Affourtit2

Biological nitrogen (N2) fixation is important in controlling biological productivity and carbon flux in the oceans. Unicellular N2-fixing cyanobacteria have only recently been discovered and are widely distributed in tropical and subtropical seas. Metagenomic analysis of flow cytometry–sorted cells shows that unicellular N2-fixing cyanobacteria in "group A" (UCYN-A) lack genes for the oxygen-evolving photosystem II and for carbon fixation, which has implications for oceanic carbon and nitrogen cycling and raises questions regarding the evolution of photosynthesis and N2 fixation on Earth.

1 Ocean Sciences Department, University of California, Santa Cruz, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA.
2 454 Life Sciences, 20 Commercial Street, Branford, CT 06405, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: zehrj{at}ucsc.edu

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)