An unidentified filamentous purple bacterium, probably belonging to a new genus or even a new family, is found in close association with the filamentous, mat-forming cyanobacterium @entity58483 in a hypersaline pond at Guerrero Negro, Baja California Sur, Mexico, and in Solar Lake, Sinai, Egypt. This organism is a gliding, segmented trichome, 0.8-0.9 micrometer wide. It contains intracytoplasmic stacked lamellae which are perpendicular and obliquely oriented to the cell wall, similar to those described for the purple @entity599 bacteria Ectothiorhodospira. These bacteria are found inside the cyanobacterial bundle, enclosed by the cyanobacterial sheath. Detailed transmission electron microscopical analyses carried out in horizontal sections of the upper 1.5 mm of the cyanobacterial mat show this cyanobacterial-purple bacterial association at depths of 300-1200 micrometers, corresponding to the zone below that of maximal oxygenic photosynthesis. Sharp gradients of @entity26 and @entity3287 are established during the day at this microzone in the two cyanobacterial mats studied. The close association, the distribution pattern of this association and preliminary physiological experiments suggest a co- @entity209 of @entity599 by the two-membered community. This probable new genus of purple bacteria may also grow photoheterotrophically using organic @entity505 excreted by the cyanobacterium. Since the chemical gradients in the entire photic zone fluctuate widely in a diurnal cycle, both types of @entity209 probably take place. During the morning and afternoon, @entity3287 migrates up to the photic zone allowing photoautotrophic @entity209 with @entity3287 as the electron donor. During the day the photic zone is highly oxygenated and the purple bacteria may either use oxidized species of @entity599 such as elemental @entity599 and @entity8962 in the photoautotrophic mode or grow photoheterotrophically using organic @entity505 excreted by @entity58483 . The new type of filamentous purple @entity599 bacteria is not available yet in pure culture, and its taxonomical position cannot be fully established. This organism is suggested to be a new type of gliding, filamentous, purple phototroph.

Association of a new type of gliding, filamentous, purple phototrophic bacterium inside bundles of XXXX in hypersaline cyanobacterial mats.

@entity8962 :: ('CHEBI:26977', 'Chemical') :: ['thiosulfate'] @entity26 :: ('MESH:D010100', 'Chemical') :: ['oxygen'] @entity58483 :: ('64178', 'Species') :: ['Microcoleus chthonoplastes', 'M. chthonoplastes'] @entity505 :: ('MESH:D002244', 'Chemical') :: ['carbon'] @entity209 :: ('MESH:D008659', 'Disease') :: ['metabolism'] @entity599 :: ('MESH:D013455', 'Chemical') :: ['sulfur'] @entity3287 :: ('CHEBI:26822', 'Chemical') :: ['sulfide']
@entity58483 :: (64178,Species) :: ['Microcoleus chthonoplastes']
