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Aerobic Phototrophic Bacteria: New Evidence for the Diversity, Ecological Importance and Applied Potential of this Previously Overlooked Group

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Abstract

The aerobic phototrophic bacteria are a recently discovered group capable of producing a photosynthetic apparatus similar to that of purple phototrophic bacteria. However, this apparatus, in contrast to that of their anaerobic counterparts, is functional in terms of photoinduced electron transport only under aerobic conditions. Although these bacteria have been widely studied, little is yet known about their ecological importance, and why they differ from other anoxygenic phototrophs with respect to oxygen requirements. In recent years a large number of new genera and species have been described from a wide variety of habitats, and evidence has been presented to support their important ecological role. This minireview focuses on recent discoveries regarding taxonomy, ecology and physiology, as well as the latest advances in the understanding of their photosynthetic apparatus and its genetic regulation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology, University of Manitoba, 422 Buller Building, Winnipeg, MB, Canada, R3T 2N2

    Christopher Rathgeber & Vladimir Yurkov

  2. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of British Columbia, 300-6174 University Boulevard, Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6T 1Z3

    J. Thomas Beatty

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  1. Christopher Rathgeber
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  2. J. Thomas Beatty
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  3. Vladimir Yurkov
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Rathgeber, C., Beatty, J.T. & Yurkov, V. Aerobic Phototrophic Bacteria: New Evidence for the Diversity, Ecological Importance and Applied Potential of this Previously Overlooked Group. Photosynthesis Research 81, 113–128 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:PRES.0000035036.49977.bc

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