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Updated: Aug 20, 2026

Autofluorescence Imaging to Evaluate Red Algae Physiology
Published on: February 17, 2023
Roseobacter-like bacteria in red and mediterranean sea aerobic anoxygenic photosynthetic populations
Aia Oz1, Gazalah Sabehi, Michal Koblízek
1Department of Biology, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel.
Abstract:
Bacteriochlorophyll a-containing aerobic anoxygenic phototrophs (AAnP) have been proposed to account for up to 11% of the total surface water microbial community and to potentially have great ecological importance in the world's oceans. Recently, environmental and genomic data based on analysis of the pufM gene identified the existence of alpha-proteobacteria as well as possible gamma-like proteobacteria among AAnP in the Pacific Ocean. Here we report on analyses of environmental samples from the Red and Mediterranean Seas by using pufM as well as the bchX and bchL genes as molecular markers. The majority of photosynthesis genes retrieved from these seas were related to Roseobacter-like AAnP sequences. Furthermore, the sequence of a novel photosynthetic operon organization from an uncultured Roseobacter-like bacterial artificial chromosome retrieved from the Red Sea is described. The data show the presence of Roseobacter-like bacteria in Red and Mediterranean Sea AAnP populations in the seasons analyzed.
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Anoxygenic Phototrophic Bacteria
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Red Algae

