title: Microbial rhodopsins on leaf surfaces of terrestrial plants.
abstract: The above-ground surfaces of terrestrial plants, the phyllosphere, comprise the main interface between the terrestrial biosphere and solar radiation. It is estimated to host up to 10(26)  microbial cells that may intercept part of the photon flux impinging on the leaves. Based on 454-pyrosequencing-generated metagenome data, we report on the existence of diverse microbial rhodopsins in five distinct phyllospheres from tamarisk (Tamarix nilotica), soybean (Glycine max), Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), clover (Trifolium repens) and rice (Oryza sativa). Our findings, for the first time describing microbial rhodopsins from non-aquatic habitats, point towards the potential coexistence of microbial rhodopsin-based phototrophy and plant chlorophyll-based photosynthesis, with the different pigments absorbing non-overlapping fractions of the light spectrum.
authors: Faculty of Biology, Lorry I Lokey Interdisciplinary Center for Life Sciences and Engineering, Faculty of Computer Science, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel.
authors: Nof
authors: N
authors: Atamna-Ismaeel
authors: Omri M
authors: OM
authors: Finkel
authors: Fabian
authors: F
authors: Glaser
authors: Itai
authors: I
authors: Sharon
authors: Ron
authors: R
authors: Schneider
authors: Anton F
authors: AF
authors: Post
authors: John L
authors: JL
authors: Spudich
authors: Christian
authors: C
authors: von Mering
authors: Julia A
authors: JA
authors: Vorholt
authors: David
authors: D
authors: Iluz
authors: Oded
authors: O
authors: Béjà
authors: Shimshon
authors: S
authors: Belkin
mesh_terms: D017753:Ecosystem; D008027:Light; D054892:Metagenome; D010788:Photosynthesis; D052817:Phototrophic Processes; D010802:Phylogeny; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000382:microbiology*; D010944:Plants / Q000382:microbiology*; D025604:Rhodopsins, Microbial / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D025604:Rhodopsins, Microbial