Impaired cell-cell communication in the multicellular cyanobacterium Anabaena affects carbon uptake, photosynthesis, and the cell wall

Sergio Camargo; Dena Leshkowitz; Bareket Dassa; Vicente Mariscal; Enrique Flores; Joel Stavans; Rinat Arbel-Goren

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2020.101977

Impaired cell-cell communication in the multicellular cyanobacterium Anabaena affects carbon uptake, photosynthesis, and the cell wall

iScience. 2021 Jan 5;24(1):101977. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2020.101977. eCollection 2021 Jan 22.

Authors

Sergio Camargo¹, Dena Leshkowitz², Bareket Dassa², Vicente Mariscal³, Enrique Flores³, Joel Stavans¹, Rinat Arbel-Goren¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physics of Complex Systems, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel.
² Department of Life Sciences Core Facilities, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel.
³ Instituto de Bioquímica Vegetal y Fotosíntesis, CSIC and Universidad de Sevilla, Américo Vespucio 49, 41092 Sevilla, Spain.

Abstract

Cell-cell communication is an essential attribute of multicellular organisms. The effects of perturbed communication were studied in septal protein mutants of the heterocyst-forming filamentous cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. PCC 7120 model organism. Strains bearing sepJ and sepJ/fraC/fraD deletions showed differences in growth, pigment absorption spectra, and spatial patterns of expression of the hetR gene encoding a heterocyst differentiation master regulator. Global changes in gene expression resulting from deletion of those genes were mapped by RNA sequencing analysis of wild-type and mutant strains, both under nitrogen-replete and nitrogen-poor conditions. The effects of sepJ and fraC/fraD deletions were non-additive, and perturbed cell-cell communication led to significant changes in global gene expression. Most significant effects, related to carbon metabolism, included increased expression of genes encoding carbon uptake systems and components of the photosynthetic apparatus, as well as decreased expression of genes encoding cell wall components related to heterocyst differentiation and to polysaccharide export.

Keywords: Microbiology; Omics.