RubisCO-encoding methanotrophs elicit a coordinated transcriptional response to carbon dioxide limitation.

In Methylococcus capsulatus, atmospheric CO2 supports growth, and CO2 starvation triggers a global transcriptional program that induces RubisCO and other inorganic carbon assimilation genes.

• Why it matters: The study addresses how methanotrophs connect organic carbon use with inorganic carbon limitation, despite RubisCO’s essential role in their dual one-carbon metabolism.
• What they did: Using a systems approach, the authors compared M. capsulatus under CO2-replete versus CO2-starved conditions and combined genetic and biochemical tests to identify CbbR as a direct promoter-binding activator.
• The result: In CO2-starved cells, RubisCO- and carbon assimilation-encoding genes increase while ribosome biogenesis and nitrogen assimilation genes decrease, and CbbR activation is linked to elevated intracellular ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate.

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