{"entity": "researcher", "timestamp": "2026-07-17T17:31:50.417Z", "family": "Wienhausen", "given": "Gerrit", "initials": "G", "orcid": "0000-0002-3562-5997", "affiliations": ["Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment (ICBM), School of Mathematics and Science, Carl von Ossietzky Universit\u00e4t Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany."], "links": {"self": {"href": "https://publications.scilifelab.se/researcher/d663d8ca36b545028fe4383709ccd0a3.json"}, "display": {"href": "https://publications.scilifelab.se/researcher/d663d8ca36b545028fe4383709ccd0a3"}}, "publications": [{"entity": "publication", "iuid": "cfad17f87f184fd5835abd8daa9d8ef3", "links": {"self": {"href": "https://publications.scilifelab.se/publication/cfad17f87f184fd5835abd8daa9d8ef3.json"}, "display": {"href": "https://publications.scilifelab.se/publication/cfad17f87f184fd5835abd8daa9d8ef3"}}, "title": "Vitamin B12 release through bacteriophage-mediated cell lysis of the marine bacterium Sulfitobacter sp. M39.", "authors": [{"family": "Sultana", "given": "Sabiha", "initials": "S", "orcid": "0000-0002-5243-8712", "researcher": {"href": "https://publications.scilifelab.se/researcher/20328a220fee49ce8c1d310446b21771.json"}}, {"family": "Bruns", "given": "Stefan", "initials": "S", "orcid": "0000-0002-4267-7832", "researcher": {"href": "https://publications.scilifelab.se/researcher/7647be1e5f7244adac5972d8ff1afc44.json"}}, {"family": "Pacheco-Valenciana", "given": "Armando", "initials": "A", "orcid": "0009-0009-2801-0917", "researcher": {"href": "https://publications.scilifelab.se/researcher/c4ac80e812df42d29f6b1138b20a834e.json"}}, {"family": "Mehrshad", "given": "Maliheh", "initials": "M", "orcid": "0000-0002-1108-6888", "researcher": {"href": "https://publications.scilifelab.se/researcher/d3eca2f7212a4c67bd7b251fa93848e1.json"}}, {"family": "Wilkes", "given": "Heinz", "initials": "H", "orcid": "0000-0002-0421-0107", "researcher": {"href": "https://publications.scilifelab.se/researcher/e0cda4730d9e4f22906dca5cde7abcdf.json"}}, {"family": "Simon", "given": "Meinhard", "initials": "M", "orcid": "0000-0002-6151-6989", "researcher": {"href": "https://publications.scilifelab.se/researcher/9eb2e53a290f4762885d7796af9b48ad.json"}}, {"family": "Garcia", "given": "Sarahi", "initials": "S", "orcid": "0000-0002-8622-0308", "researcher": {"href": "https://publications.scilifelab.se/researcher/8aabc8c17d5b4ad7872c7380301d4562.json"}}, {"family": "Wienhausen", "given": "Gerrit", "initials": "G", "orcid": "0000-0002-3562-5997", "researcher": {"href": "https://publications.scilifelab.se/researcher/d663d8ca36b545028fe4383709ccd0a3.json"}}], "type": "journal article", "published": "2025-01-00", "journal": {"title": "ISME COMMUN.", "issn": "2730-6151", "volume": "5", "issue": "1", "pages": "ycaf136", "issn-l": null}, "abstract": "Vitamin B12 (B12) is an essential cofactor for vital metabolic processes in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes. De novo B12 biosynthesis is exclusively carried out by a modicum of prokaryotes, although being required by most organisms. Recently, it has been demonstrated that not all B12-prototrophic bacteria voluntarily share this vital cofactor and, therefore, are termed B12-retainers. Consequently, low biosynthesis potential and limited voluntary release lead to a large discrepancy between availability and demand for B12 in the ocean, indicating that release of B12 may be an important control. Hence, in this study, we examined a specific release process, cell lysis after phage infection. We isolated bacteriophages specific for the B12-prototrophic, yet B12-retainer bacterium Sulfitobacter sp. M39. The addition of the bacteriophages to a Sulfitobacter sp. M39 mono-culture led to a significant increase in virus-like particles, reduced bacterial growth, and quantifiable extracellular dissolved B12. When introducing bacteriophages to a co-culture comprising the host bacterium and the B12-auxotrophic diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana, we observed rapid response in the form of microalgal growth. Our results indicate that B12 is released as a result of bacteriophage-mediated cell lysis of Sulfitobacter sp. M39, enabling the growth of T. pseudonana in co-culture and possibly other microbes in nature. Therefore, we propose that bacteriophage-mediated cell lysis is a key mechanism for the release of essential metabolites, including vitamins, and given the estimated bacteriophage infection rates in the ocean, it plays a crucial role in the B-vitamin cycle in the marine environment.", "doi": "10.1093/ismeco/ycaf136", "pmid": "40994829", "labels": {"Bioinformatics Support for Computational Resources": "Service"}, "xrefs": [{"db": "pmc", "key": "PMC12456174"}, {"db": "pii", "key": "ycaf136"}], "notes": [], "created": "2025-11-28T10:49:31.823Z", "modified": "2025-11-28T10:49:32.173Z"}]}