Di. Bright et Ae. Walsby, The relationship between critical pressure and width of gas vesicles in isolates of Planktothrix rubescens from Lake Zurich, MICROBIO-UK, 145, 1999, pp. 2769-2775
The mean critical collapse pressure (p(c)) of gas vesicles in 81 strains of
the cyanobacterium Planktothrix rubescens from Lake Zurich, Switzerland, w
as bimodally distributed between a minimum of 0.86 MPa and a maximum of 1.1
7 MPa. Measurements were made of the cylinder diameter (d) of gas vesicles
isolated from seven of the strains. The mean diameter, which varied from 48
to 61 nm, was inversely related to p(c), in keeping with the theory of str
ength of thin-walled rigid cylinders. These measurements extended the range
of p(c)-width relationship of gas vesicles, which can be described by the
expression p(c) = 461(d/nm)(-1.53) MPa, p(c) was correlated with gas vesicl
e genotype (see the accompanying paper by S. J. Beard, B. A. Handley, P. K.
Hayes & A. E. Walsby, Microbiology 145, 2757-2768): of the 81 strains inve
stigated, all those with the gas vesicle genotype GV2 produced gas vesicles
with a mean p(c) of less than 1.0 MPa, whereas those of GV3 had a mean p(c
) of greater than 1.0 MPa. It is suggested that gas vesicles of the GV3 str
ains, which are narrower and stronger than any previously recorded in fresh
water cyanobacteria, have evolved to withstand the high hydrostatic pressur
es during deep winter mixing in Lake Zurich.