Patterns and regulation of silicon accumulation in Synechococcus spp.

Six clones of the marine cyanobacterium Synechococcus, representing four major clades, were all found to contain significant amounts of silicon in culture. Growth rate was unaffected by silicic acid, Si(OH)₄, concentration between 1 and 120 μM suggesting that Synechococcus lacks an obligate need for silicon (Si). Strains contained two major pools of Si: an aqueous soluble and an aqueous insoluble pool. Soluble pool sizes correspond to estimated intracellular dissolved Si concentrations of 2–24 mM, which would be thermodynamically unstable implying the binding of intracellular soluble Si to organic ligands. The Si content of all clones was inversely related to growth rate and increased with higher [Si(OH)₄] in the growth medium. Accumulation rates showed a unique bilinear response to increasing [Si(OH)₄] from 1 to 500 μM with the rate of Si acquisition increasing abruptly between 80 and 100 μM Si(OH)₄. Although these linear responses imply some form of diffusion-mediated transport, Si uptake rates at low Si (~1 μM Si) were inhibited by orthophosphate, suggesting a role of phosphate transporters in Si acquisition. Theoretical calculations imply that observed Si acquisition rates are too rapid to be supported by lipid-solubility diffusion of Si through the plasmalemma; however, facilitated diffusion involving membrane protein channels may suffice. The data are used to construct a working model of the mechanisms governing the Si content and rate of Si acquisition in Synechococcus.