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Microbes display broad diversity in cobamide preferences.

Kenny C Mok1, Olga M Sokolovskaya1,2, Adam M Deutschbauer1,3

  • 1Department of Plant & Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, U.S.A.

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Summary

Microbes exhibit diverse preferences for cobamides, essential vitamin B12 cofactors, impacting their growth and community roles. This study characterized these preferences using newly purified cobamides.

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Area of Science:

  • Microbiology
  • Biochemistry
  • Nutritional Science

Background:

  • Cobamides (vitamin B12 cofactors) are crucial nutrients for many organisms but produced by few prokaryotes.
  • Microbial communities utilize a diverse range of structurally different cobamides.
  • Previous studies on cobamide preferences were limited by the commercial unavailability of most cobamides.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To characterize bacterial cobamide preferences using seven newly purified, commercially unavailable cobamides.
  • To investigate how different cobamide-dependent metabolic pathways within an organism influence cofactor preference.
  • To understand the impact of cobamide availability on microbial growth and community dynamics.

Main Methods:

  • Extraction and purification of seven distinct cobamides.
  • Growth-based assays using engineered bacterial strains (Escherichia coli, Sinorhizobium meliloti, Bacillus subtilis) under specific cobamide-dependent conditions.
  • Functional isolation of cobamide-dependent processes, such as methionine synthesis.

Main Results:

  • Significant diversity in cobamide preferences was observed across different bacterial species and even between metabolic pathways within the same species.
  • Microbes varied in their most efficiently utilized cobamides, those that did not support growth, and minimum required concentrations.
  • Minimum cobamide concentrations for growth differed by up to four orders of magnitude across organisms and up to 20-fold between enzymes within an organism.

Conclusions:

  • Bacterial cobamide preferences are highly diverse, extending beyond species-level differences to metabolic pathway-specific requirements.
  • These preferences, particularly the varying minimum required concentrations, significantly influence microbial growth and nutrient utilization.
  • Cobamide preferences are a key factor shaping microbial community structure and function due to their role as shared, essential nutrients.