Far-red light promotes biofilm formation in the cyanobacterium Acaryochloris marina

Light quantity and quality promotes ecological-niche differentiation of photosynthetic organisms. The existence of cyanobacteria capable of performing photosynthesis using red-shifted chlorophylls, chlorophyll d and f, reduces competition between species in light-limiting environments, and permits them to thrive in niches enriched in far-red light. We examined global transcriptome changes due to changing the culture light conditions in Acaryochloris marina, a chlorophyll d-containing cyanobacterium. We identified the functional category of 'photosynthesis' as the most down-regulated and the category of 'cell wall/membrane biogenesis' as the most up-regulated through a functional enrichment analysis of genes differentially expressed. Within the category of 'cell wall/membrane biogenesis', genes encoding glycosysltransferases accumulated the most in response to far-red light. Further experimental results confirmed that cells grown under far-red light form biofilms with a significantly increased adherence compared to cells grown under white light. Taken together, these results indicate that Acaryochloris marina shifts its lifestyle from a planktonic state under white light to an immobilized state under far-red light.