Low stable carbon isotope fractionation by coccolithophore RubisCO

Mathematics – Logic

Scientific paper

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Scientific paper

The 13 C/ 12 C ratio of carbon compounds is used to identify sources and sinks in the global carbon cycle. However, the relatively enriched 13 C content observed for marine organic carbon remains enigmatic. The majority of oceanic carbon is fixed by algae and cyanobacteria via the Calvin-Benson-Bassham cycle, yet isotopic discrimination by the CO 2 fixation enzyme, RubisCO (ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase), has only been measured for a single marine cyanobacterium. Different forms of RubisCO occur in different phytoplankton species (overall amino acid identity varying by as much as ˜75%) and thus may vary in the degree to which they fractionate carbon. Here we measured isotope discrimination by RubisCO from the coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi , a cosmopolitan species used as a marine algal model . E. huxleyi RubisCO discriminated substantially less ( &z.epsiv; = 11.1‰) against 13 CO 2 than other RubisCO enzymes (18-29‰), despite having Michaelis-Menten kinetic parameters ( K CO 2 = 72 μM; V max = 0.66 μmol min -1 mg -1 protein) similar to those measured for RubisCO enzymes from different organisms. If widespread, decreased isotope discrimination of 13 C by phytoplankton RubisCO may be a major factor influencing the enriched 13 C content of marine organic carbon. This finding emphasizes the necessity of (a) determining &z.epsiv; values for RubisCOs of other marine phytoplankton and (b) re-evaluation of δ 13 C values from physiological, environmental, and geological studies.

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