title: A Comparative Study of Iron Uptake Rates and Mechanisms amongst Marine and Fresh Water Cyanobacteria: Prevalence of Reductive Iron Uptake.
abstract: In this contribution, we address the question of iron bioavailability to cyanobacteria by measuring Fe uptake rates and probing for a reductive uptake pathway in diverse cyanobacterial species. We examined three Fe-substrates: dissolved inorganic iron (Fe') and the Fe-siderophores Ferrioxamine B (FOB) and FeAerobactin (FeAB). In order to compare across substrates and strains, we extracted uptake rate constants (kin = uptake rate/[Fe-substrate]). Fe' was the most bioavailable Fe form to cyanobacteria, with kin values higher than those of other substrates. When accounting for surface area (SA), all strains acquired Fe' at similar rates, as their kin/SA were similar. We also observed homogeneity in the uptake of FOB among strains, but with 10,000 times lower kin/SA values than Fe'. Uniformity in kin/SA suggests similarity in the mechanism of uptake and indeed, all strains were found to employ a reductive step in the uptake of Fe' and FOB. In contrast, different uptake pathways were found for FeAB along with variations in kin/SA. Our data supports the existence of a common reductive Fe uptake pathway amongst cyanobacteria, functioning alone or in addition to siderophore-mediated uptake. Cyanobacteria combining both uptake strategies benefit from increased flexibility in accessing different Fe-substrates.
authors.affiliation: Interuniversity Institute for Marine Sciences in Eilat, Israel. hagarlis@gmail.com.|The Freddy and Nadine Herrmann Institute of Earth Sciences, Edmond J. Safra Campus, Givat Ram, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 9190401, Israel. hagarlis@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Hagar
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lis
authors.affiliation: Interuniversity Institute for Marine Sciences in Eilat, Israel. nir.ke@mail.huji.ac.il.|Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Institute of Life Science, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91904, Israel. nir.ke@mail.huji.ac.il.
authors.forename: Chana
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kranzler
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Institute of Life Science, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91904, Israel. nir.ke@mail.huji.ac.il.
authors.forename: Nir
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Keren
authors.affiliation: Interuniversity Institute for Marine Sciences in Eilat, Israel. yshaked@vms.huji.ac.il.|The Freddy and Nadine Herrmann Institute of Earth Sciences, Edmond J. Safra Campus, Givat Ram, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 9190401, Israel. yshaked@vms.huji.ac.il.
authors.forename: Yeala
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shaked