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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, September 2008, p. 5317-5324, Vol. 74, No. 17
0099-2240/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.02480-07
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Phylogenetic Diversity of Sequences of Cyanophage Photosynthetic Gene psbA in Marine and Freshwaters{triangledown} ,{dagger}

C. Chénard1 and C. A. Suttle2*

Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver,1 Departments of Earth and Ocean Sciences, Microbiology and Immunology, and Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada2

Received 2 November 2007/ Accepted 23 June 2008

Many cyanophage isolates which infect the marine cyanobacteria Synechococcus spp. and Prochlorococcus spp. contain a gene homologous to psbA, which codes for the D1 protein involved in photosynthesis. In the present study, cyanophage psbA gene fragments were readily amplified from freshwater and marine samples, confirming their widespread occurrence in aquatic communities. Phylogenetic analyses demonstrated that sequences from freshwaters have an evolutionary history that is distinct from that of their marine counterparts. Similarly, sequences from cyanophages infecting Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus spp. were readily discriminated, as were sequences from podoviruses and myoviruses. Viral psbA sequences from the same geographic origins clustered within different clades. For example, cyanophage psbA sequences from the Arctic Ocean fell within the Synechococcus as well as Prochlorococcus phage groups. Moreover, as psbA sequences are not confined to a single family of phages, they provide an additional genetic marker that can be used to explore the diversity and evolutionary history of cyanophages in aquatic environments.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of British Columbia, 1461-6270 University Blvd., Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada. Phone: (604) 822-8610. Fax: (604) 822-6091. E-mail: csuttle{at}eos.ubc.ca

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 27 June 2008.

{dagger} Supplemental material for this article may be found at http://aem.asm.org/.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, September 2008, p. 5317-5324, Vol. 74, No. 17
0099-2240/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.02480-07
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Cottrell, M. T., Kirchman, D. L. (2009). Photoheterotrophic Microbes in the Arctic Ocean in Summer and Winter. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 75: 4958-4966 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Clasen, J. L., Suttle, C. A. (2009). Identification of Freshwater Phycodnaviridae and Their Potential Phytoplankton Hosts, Using DNA pol Sequence Fragments and a Genetic-Distance Analysis. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 75: 991-997 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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