Physiological aspects of CO2 and HCO3− transport by cyanobacteria: a review

Abstract

Cyanobacteria grown at air levels of CO2, or lower, have a very high photosynthetic affinity for CO2. For ceils grown in carbon-limited chemostats at pH 9.6, the K0.5 (CO2) for whole cell CO2 fixation is about 3 nM. This is in spite of a K0.5 (CO2) for cyanobacterial ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase of about 200 μM. It is now clear that cyanobacteria can photosynthesize at very low CO2 concentrations because they raise the CO2 concentration dramatically around the carboxylase. This rise in the intracellular CO2 concentration involves the active transport of HCO3− and CO2, perhaps by separate transport systems. The transport of HCO3− often requires millimolar levels of Na+, and this provides a ready means of initiating HCO3− transport. The active transport of CO2 requires only micromolar levels of Na+. In the rather dense cell suspensions used in transport studies the extent of CO2 uptake is often limited by the rate at which CO2 can be formed from the HCO3− in the medium. The addition of carbonic anhydrase relieves this kinetic limitation on CO2 transport. The active transport of CO2 can be selectively inhibited by the structural analog carbon oxysulfide (COS). When HCO3− transport is allowed in the presence of COS there is a substantial net leakage of CO2 from the cells. This leaked CO2 results from the intracellular dehydration of the accumulated HCO3−. This CO2 is normally scavenged by the active CO2 pump. If cells are allowed to transport H13C18O18O18O− for 5 s and if CO2 transport is suddenly quenched by the addition of COS, then a rapid leakage of 13C16O16O occurs. If the rapidly released CO2 was actually present in the cells before the addition of the COS, then the intracellular CO2 concentration would have been about 0.6 mM. Not only is this a high concentration, but since the leaked CO2 was completely depleted of the initial 18O, it must have been in rapid equilibrium with the total dissolved inorganic carbon within the cells. Cells grown on high levels of inorganic carbon, either as CO2 or HCO3−, lack the active HCO3− system but still retain a capacity, albeit reduced, for CO2 transport. Cyanobacteria seem to adjust their complement of inorganic carbon transport systems so that the K0.5 for transport is close to the inorganic carbon concentration of the growth medium.