Photoexcretion and Fate of Glycolate in a Hot Spring Cyanobacterial Mat

Photosynthesis by Synechococcus lividus, the sole oxygenic phototroph inhabiting the surface of the 55°C cyanobacterial mat in Mushroom Spring, Yellowstone National Park, causes superoxic and alkaline conditions which promote glycolate photoexcretion. At O₂ concentrations characteristic of the top 2 mm of mat during the day, up to 11.8% of NaH¹⁴CO₃ fixed in the light was excreted, and glycolate accounted for up to 58% of the excreted photosynthate. Glycolate was neither incorporated nor metabolized by S. lividus, but it was incorporated by filamentous microorganisms in the mat. Incubation of mat samples with NaH¹⁴CO₃ resulted in labeling of both S. lividus and filaments, but the addition of nonradioactive glycolate increased the level of ¹⁴C in the aqueous phase and decreased the extent of labeling of filaments. This suggests that cross-feeding of glycolate from S. lividus to filamentous heterotrophs occurs and that underestimation of the extent of photoexcretion is probable.