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The Jekyll-and-Hyde chemistry of Phaeobacter gallaeciensis

Nature Chemistry volume 3, pages 331–335 (2011)Cite this article

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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.

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Figure 1: Effect of pCA on secondary metabolites produced by P. gallaeciensis.
Figure 2: Proposed biosynthesis for roseobacticides.
Figure 3: Activity of 6 against E. huxleyi and C. muelleri.
Figure 4: Proposed working model for the interaction between E. huxleyi and P. gallaeciensis.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Shao-Liang Zheng at the Center for Crystallographic Studies, Harvard University, for solving the crystal structure of roseobacticide A, and Yoko Saikawa and Brenda N. Goguen for helpful discussions. The authors also thank the Chisholm laboratory for use of and help with their flow cytometer, and J.B. Dacks for assistance with bioinformatic analyses. M.R.S. is a Novartis Fellow of the Life Sciences Research Foundation. R.J.C. is a Harvard Ziff Environmental Fellow. This work was supported by the Office of Naval Research (grant N000141010447) and the National Institutes of Health (grants GM58213 and GM82137, R.K.; grants CA24487 and GM086258, J.C.).

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  1. Mohammad R. Seyedsayamdost and Rebecca J. Case: These authors contributed equally to this work

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, 02115, Massachusetts, USA

    Mohammad R. Seyedsayamdost & Jon Clardy

  2. Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, 02115, Massachusetts, USA

    Rebecca J. Case & Roberto Kolter

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  1. Mohammad R. Seyedsayamdost
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Contributions

M.R.S., R.J.C, R.K. and J.C. designed the experiments and wrote the manuscript. M.R.S. performed roseobacticide isolation, structure elucidation and antibacterial assays. R.J.C. performed microscopy and flow cytometry for anti-algal activity assays.

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Correspondence to Roberto Kolter or Jon Clardy.

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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

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