ArticleCurrent biology : CB2016
Cyanobacteria and Eukaryotic Algae Use Different Chemical Variants of Vitamin B12.
Article in Current biology : CB, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 97 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
97 citing papers in PubMed, 250 citations in OpenAlex.
- Impact of Regular Intake of Microalgae on Nutrient Supply and Cardiovascular Risk Factors: Results from the NovAL Intervention Study.Nutrients · 2023Trial
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- Evolutionarily divergent DUF4465 domains have a common vitamin BFEBS open bio · 2026Article
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- Genotype-phenotype modeling of light ecotypes inbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
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- Multi-omics uncovers nutrient stress-driven interactions in a syntheticISME communications · 2026Article
- The Corrinoid Model for Dissecting Microbial Community Interactions Across Scales.Annual review of microbiology · 2025Review
- Microbes display broad diversity in cobamide preferences.mSystems · 2025Article
- Chronic low-dose rate irradiation induces transient hormesis effect on cyanobacteriumiScience · 2025Article
- Laboratory evolution ofJournal of bacteriology · 2025Article
- Presence of vitamin BPhilosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2024Article
- Laboratory evolution ofbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- Nutraceutical prospects of genetically engineered cyanobacteria- technological updates and significance.World journal of microbiology & biotechnology · 2024Review
- Soil microbial community response to corrinoids is shaped by a natural reservoir of vitamin BbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- Ligand cross-feeding resolves bacterial vitamin BNature · 2024Article
- Article
- Phylogenetic distribution and experimental characterization of corrinoid production and dependence in soil bacterial isolates.The ISME journal · 2024Article
37 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 5 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Eukaryotic microalgae and prokaryotic cyanobacteria are the major components of the phytoplankton. Determining factors that govern growth of these primary producers, and how they interact, is therefore essential to understanding aquatic ecosystem productivity. Over half of microalgal species representing marine and freshwater habitats require for growth the corrinoid cofactor B12, which is synthesized de novo only by certain prokaryotes, including the majority of cyanobacteria. There are several chemical variants of B12, which are not necessarily functionally interchangeable. Cobalamin, the form bioavailable to humans, has as its lower axial ligand 5,6-dimethylbenzimidazole (DMB). Here, we show that the abundant marine cyanobacterium Synechococcus synthesizes only pseudocobalamin, in which the lower axial ligand is adenine. Moreover, bioinformatic searches of over 100 sequenced cyanobacterial genomes for B12 biosynthesis genes, including those involved in nucleotide loop assembly, suggest this is the form synthesized by cyanobacteria more broadly. We further demonstrate that pseudocobalamin is several orders of magnitude less bioavailable than cobalamin to several B12-dependent microalgae representing diverse lineages. This indicates that the two major phytoplankton groups use a different B12 currency. However, in an intriguing twist, some microalgal species can use pseudocobalamin if DMB is provided, suggesting that they are able to remodel the cofactor, whereas Synechococcus cannot. This species-specific attribute implicates algal remodelers as novel and keystone players of the B12 cycle, transforming our perception of the dynamics and complexity of the flux of this nutrient in aquatic ecosystems.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.