Lipoxygenase in a Giant Sulfur Bacterium: An Evolutionary Solution for Size and Complexity?

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Georgy Kurakin^a

Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, 117997 Moscow, Russia

Received April 17, 2023; Revised April 17, 2023; Accepted May 2, 2023

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Discovery of Thiomargarita magnifica – an exceptionally large giant sulfur bacterium – urges us to pay additional attention to the giant sulfur bacteria and to revisit our recent bioinformatic finding of lipoxygenases in the representatives of the genus Beggiatoa. These close relatives of Thiomargarita magnifica meet the similar size requirements by forming multicellular structures. We hypothesize that their lipoxygenases are a part of the oxylipin signaling system that provides high level of cell-to-cell signaling complexity which, in turn, enables them to reach large sizes.

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KEY WORDS: Beggiatoa, multicellularity, lipoxygenase, Thiomargarita magnifica

DOI: 10.1134/S0006297923060111

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