The nitroplast: A nitrogen-fixing organelle

• 成果类型: Editorial Material
• 署名作者: Massana, Ramon
• 署名单位: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC); CSIC - Centro Mediterraneo de Investigaciones Marinas y Ambientales (CMIMA); CSIC - Instituto de Ciencias del Mar (ICM)
• 刊物名称: SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0036-8360
• DOI: 10.1126/science.ado8571
• 发表日期: 2024-04-12
• 页码: 160-161
• 关键词: fixation

摘要

Eukaryotic cells are notably complex-for example, they have various organelles, which are membrane-bound structures with specific functions. Two of these organelles, mitochondria and chloroplasts, which function in respiration and photosynthesis, evolved from the integration of endosymbiotic bacteria to the eukaryotic cell ( 1 ). In marine systems, some nitrogen-fixing bacteria are endosymbionts of microalgae, such as Candidatus Atelocyanobacterium thalassa (UCYN-A), a cyanobacterial symbiont of the unicellular algae Braarudosphaera bigelowii ( 2 ). On page 217 of this issue, Coale et al. ( 3 ) report a close integration of the endosymbiont into the architecture and function of the host cell, which is a characteristic of organelles. These findings show that UCYN-A has evolved from a symbiont to a eukaryotic organelle for nitrogen fixation-the nitroplast-thereby expanding a function that was thought to be exclusively carried out by prokaryotic cells to eukaryotes.