Journal of Marine Sciences ›› 2024, Vol. 42 ›› Issue (1): 91-105.DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1001-909X.2024.01.009

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Investigation of carotenoid biosynthesis genes in marine Erythrobacteraceae strains

YUE Xiaolan1,2(), XU Lin2,3, FU Geyi2, XU Xuewei2,*()   

  1. 1. School of Oceanography, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
    2. Second Institute of Oceanography, Key Laboratory of Marine Ecosystem Dynamics, MNR, Hangzhou 310012, China
    3. College of Life Sciences and Medicine, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou 310018, China
  • Received:2023-04-04 Revised:2023-05-16 Online:2024-03-15 Published:2024-05-11

Abstract:

Erythrobacteraceae is widely distributed in marine environments and can synthesize various pigments such as carotenoids. Carotenoids have photoprotective and antioxidant abilities, and they can play a crucial role in the adaptation of Erythrobacteraceae to marine ecosystems. In this study, we obtained the genomes of 107 marine Erythrobacteriaceae strains, analyzed the distribution characteristics of carotenoid biosynthesis genes including crtEBIGYZW in their genomes, constructed phylogenetic trees based on the amino acid sequences of the carotenoid biosynthesis genes, and elucidated the presence and distribution of carotenoid biosynthesis genes in Erythrobacteriaceae from deep-sea and shallow-sea sources. The results suggested that all of marine Erythrobacteriaceae strains contained the crtEIGZ genes, 98.1% of strains contained the crtBY genes, and 43.9% of them contained the crtW gene, which differed among strains but no any specificities found among the deep-sea or shallow-sea sources. Additionally, in the comparison of the phylogenetic topology, it was found that the crtBYZW genes were vertically transferred from their ancestor, while the crtEIG genes were mainly horizontal gene transferred. Our study aids in the understanding of the carotenoid biosynthesis gene evolution in the family Erythrobacteriaceae and also serves as a scientific basis for the study of carotenoid synthesis pathways and genes in other marine bacteria, enables a thorough understanding of marine carotenoid-synthesizing strains.

Key words: Erythrobacteriaceae, marine, carotenoid biosynthesis gene, phylogeny, evolution

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