Sw. Wilhelm et Cg. Trick, EFFECTS OF VITAMIN-B-12 CONCENTRATION ON CHEMOSTAT CULTURED SYNECHOCOCCUS SP STRAIN PCC-7002, Canadian journal of microbiology, 41(2), 1995, pp. 145-151
The effects of vitamin B-12 availability on the physiology of the cyan
obacterium Synechococcus sp. strain PCC 7002 were examined in a contin
uous culture chemostat system. The availability of vitamin B-12 within
the system was demonstrated to control the cell density and cellular
chlorophyll levels under nutrient-limiting conditions. Electron microg
raphs of vitamin B-12 replete and vitamin B-12 deficient cyanobacteria
indicated that a reduction in vitamin B-12 availability induced a los
s of thylakoid integrity within the system. Polyacrylamide gel electro
phoresis demonstrated that the expression of outer membrane proteins o
f 95, 70, and 34 kDa was enhanced during vitamin B-12 limited growth.
Cellular quotients were determined to be a minimum of 256 molecules of
vitamin B-12/cell to sustain a growth rate of 0.6/day. A comparison w
ith eukaryotic plankton demonstrated that the vitamin B-12 requirement
s of cyanobacteria may be more similar to those of chloroplasts than t
o those of the entire group of eukaryotic algae.