The effects of nitrogen limitation on the ultrastructure of the cyanobacterium Agmenellum quadruplicatum

StevensJr., S. E.; Balkwill, David L.; Paone, Domenic A. M.

doi:10.1007/bf00459520

Cited by 81 publications

(73 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…Compared with other cyanobacteria (Stevens et al, 1981) Chroococcidiopsis is able to tolerate a prolonged period of N starvation (4 months) by adopting structural (envelope modification) and biochemical mechanisms that allow it to colonize and survive in habitats that are N-deficient or show extremes of temperatures and desiccation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One aspect of N deprivation is tbe phenomenon of cblorosis, due to tbe preferential loss of pbycocyanin over cbloropbyll (Allen & Smitb, 1969). N limitation triggers tbe degradation of phycocyanin and cyanopbycin in Aphanocapsa 6308 (Allen & Hutcbison, 1980), wbereas in Agmenellum quadruplicatum It causes an ordered degradation of pbycobilisomes, ribosomes, and tbylakoid membranes, a drop in tbe pbycocyanin; cbloropbyll ratio and accumulation of polysaccbarides (Stevens, Balkwill & Paone, 1981). In N-depleted Synechococcus 6301 both intracellular cbloropbyll and pbycocyanin decreased (Wanner et al 1986), tbougb in Synechococcus PCC 7942 it bas been sbown tbat tbere is not net cbloropbyll degradation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effects of nitrogen limitation and starvation on Chroococcidiopsis sp. (Chroococcales)

Billi

Caiola

1996

New Phytologist

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S U M MARYChroococcidiopsis sp. cells from hot desert rock (Timna National Park, Israel) were grown in modified BG-11 medium which was either N-free or which contained different concentrations of nitrogen, provided as nitrate. The life cycle, ultrastructure and physiological activities of the cyanobacterium were investigated over a period of 4 months. No alterations were detected in cells grown in medium containing 250 or 125 fig N mr'. In contrast, cells grown in medium with 62 fig N ml"^ or lacking nitrogen occurred only as isolated viable forms, after 3 months and 1 month of growth, respectively. In these cells a decrease in the content of cellular chlorophyll and phycocyanin paralleled undetectable O, evolution and depressed O, uptake. In addition, such isolated cells were characterized by a multilayered envelope, whereas, in the cytoplasm, vesiculated thylakoids and glycogen granules were observed. N-limited and N-starved cells recovered their cellular organization and physiological activities upon N repletion. These 'survival' cells had a spore-like form, and were functionally comparable to akinetes.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of nitrogen limitation and starvation on Chroococcidiopsis sp. (Chroococcales)

Billi

Caiola

1996

New Phytologist

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“…This polymer is massively accumulated in cyanobacterial cells whenever balanced growth is hampered by a particular nutrient deficiency (Allen & Smith, 1969;Lehmann & Wober, 1976;van Eykelenburg, 1980;Stevens et al, 1981) or by sudden increases in energy input (Ernst & Boger, 1985;Post, 1987). Once conditions for balanced growth are re-established, accumulated glycogen is rapidly broken down to yield energy and carbon for cell metabolism.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Glycogen and poly- -hydroxybutyrate synthesis in Spirulina maxima

Philippis¹,

Chen²,

Vincenzini³

1992

Journal of General Microbiology

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The effect of different growth conditions on the glycogen and poly-/I-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) content of the cyanobacterium Spirulina maxima is described. Under photoautotrophic growth conditions without any nutrient limitation, S. maxima exhibited a glycogen content of between 7-1 and 10.7% of cell dry wt, whereas PHB was undetectable. When S. maxima was grown under mixotrophic conditions in the presence of acetate, the intracellular PHB concentration increased to more than 3 % of dry wt, while glycogen content remained within the range of 5 to 6% of cell dry wt. Nitrogen starvation favoured glycogen accumulation (up to 60 to 70% of dry wt), while the PHB content remained low (up to 0.7% of dry wt), even after prolonged nitrogen starvation. Inhibition of protein synthesis, induced by addition of azaserine, led to the accumulation of glycogen (up to 52 yo of cell dry wt) but did not stimulate PHB synthesis. Under phosphorus-limited growth conditions, glycogen and PHB accumulated (up to 23% and 1.2% of cell dry wt, respectively) only after the exhaustion of intracellular phosphorus reserves. Shifting the culture from low to high light irradiance induced a rapid accumulation of glycogen (up to 34% of cell dry wt after 9 h) but did not induce PHB synthesis. Results are discussed in terms of the metabolic significance of PHB synthesis in cyanobacteria, and suggest that this polymer acts exclusively as a disposal mechanism to eliminate excess reducing equivalents.

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“…The linker proteins in the rods and the large anchor protein in the core are modified by glycosylation, a relatively rare phenomenon in procaryotes (35). These posttranslational modifications are part of an in vivo assembly pathway that depends on the repertoire of phycobilisome components that are available, and thus can change as the cyanobacterium modulates biliprotein and linker gene expression in response to light wavelength (known as chromatic adaptation) (10,12,13,21,44,45) or nutrient availability (1,43).…”

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confidence: 99%

Genes for phycocyanin subunits in Synechocystis sp. strain PCC 6701 and assembly mutant UV16

Anderson

Grossman

1990

J Bacteriol

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The cyanobacterial phycobilisome is a large protein complex located on the photosynthetic membrane. It harvests light energy and transfers it to chlorophyll for use in photosynthesis. Phycobilisome assembly mutants in the unicellular cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. strain 6701 have been characterized. One such mutant, UV16, contains a defect in the assembly of the biliprotein phycocyanin. We report the cloning and sequencing of the phycocyanin genes from wild-type Synechocystis strain 6701 and demonstrate an alteration in the gene for the phycocyanin a subunit in UV16. Possible consequences of the lesion on phycobilisome assembly were assessed from its position in the phycocyanin tertiary and quaternary structures. The UV16 phenotype is complex and includes a reduced level of phycocyanin relative to that in the wild type. To determine whether the lower phycocyanin content results from lower transcript levels, a fragment of cpcBA was used as a probe for quantitating phycocyanin mRNA. Both the wild type and UV16 contained two phycocyanin transcripts of approximately 1.4 and 1.5 kilobases that were equal in abundance and that did not vary with light quality during cell growth. Equal levels of these transcripts in the wild type and UV16 suggest that the lower phycocyanin content in the mutant may be due to posttranscriptional events. The 5' ends of the two phycocyanin mRNAs were mapped at 100 and 223 base pairs upstream of the cpcB initiation codon. Homologous regions upstream of the putative transcription initiation sites may be important for maintaining high levels of transcription from the Synechocystis strain 6701 phycocyanin gene set.

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The effects of nitrogen limitation on the ultrastructure of the cyanobacterium Agmenellum quadruplicatum

Cited by 81 publications

References 49 publications

Effects of nitrogen limitation and starvation on Chroococcidiopsis sp. (Chroococcales)

Effects of nitrogen limitation and starvation on Chroococcidiopsis sp. (Chroococcales)

Glycogen and poly- -hydroxybutyrate synthesis in Spirulina maxima

Genes for phycocyanin subunits in Synechocystis sp. strain PCC 6701 and assembly mutant UV16

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