Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Morphology, ultrastructure and phylogeny of Cyanothece sp. (Cyanobacteriaceae: Cyanophyceae) isolated from the eastern Indian Ocean

  • Published:
Acta Oceanologica Sinica Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

One strain of unicellular greenish algae embedded by mucilage was successfully isolated from equatorial area in the Indian Ocean. Microscopic observation, ultrastructure features and genetic identification confirmed that the strain was closely related to Cyanothece sp., which was a cyanobacteria species with great ecological significance. Cells were solitary with oval or bacilliform shapes. Diameters of this strain were relatively small, ranging from 2.5 to 6.5 μm on average. Ultrastructure of cells was simple. Thylakoids were arranged parietal and keritomized content were observed in the thylakoid region. Various electron-transparent granules with low electron-dense region as well as cyanophycin or glycogen granules-like organelle and carbonxysomes were also observed. For pigment composition, the dominant pigments were chlorophyll a, β-Carotene, Zeaxanthin and an unknown pigment, contributing 23.8%, 26.1%, 14.7% and 15.7% to total pigments respectively. The phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA gene and nifH gene confirmed that Strain EIO409 was closely related with Cyanothece sp..

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bandyopadhyay A, Elvitigala T, Welsh E, et al. 2011. Novel metabolic attributes of the genus Cyanothece, comprising a group of unicellular nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria. mBio, 2(5): e00214–11

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castenholz R W, Wilmotte A, Herdman M, et al. 2001. Phylum BX. Cyanobacteria. In: Boone D R, Castenholz R W, Garrity G M, eds. Bergey’s Manual® of Systematic Bacteriology. New York: Springer, 473–599

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Cepák V. 1993. Morphology of DNA containing structures (nucleoids) as a prospective character in cyanophyte taxonomy. Journal of Phycology, 29(6): 844–852, doi: 10.1111/j.0022-3646.1993.00844.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen Y, Padan E, Shilo M. 1975. Facultative anoxygenic photosynthesis in the cyanobacterium Oscillatoria limnetica. Journal of Bacteriology, 123(3): 855–861

    Google Scholar 

  • Dor I. 1998. A checklist of cyanophyta (cyanobacteria) of Israel and adjacent regions. Israel Journal of Plant Sciences, 46(3): 239–254, doi: 10.1080/07929978.1998.10676733

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fine R A, Smethie W M Jr, Bullister J H, et al. 2008. Decadal ventilation and mixing of Indian Ocean waters. Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers, 55(1): 20–37, doi: 10.1016/j.dsr.2007.10.002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Galloway J N, Dentener F J, Capone D G, et al. 2004. Nitrogen cycles: past, present, and future. Biogeochemistry, 70(2): 153–226, doi: 10.1007/s10533-004-0370-0

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garcia-Pichel F, Nübel U, Muyzer G. 1998. The phylogeny of unicellular, extremely halotolerant cyanobacteria. Archives of Microbiology, 169(6): 469–482, doi: 10.1007/s002030050599

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garrity G, Boon D R, Castenholz R W. 2001. Bergey’s Manual of Systematic Bacteriology: Volume 1. the Archaea and the Deeply Branching and Phototrophic Bacteria. 2nd ed. New York: Springer

    Google Scholar 

  • Guillard R R L, Ryther J H. 1962. Studies of marine planktonic diatoms: I. Cyclotella nana Hustedt, and Detonula conferraceae (Cleve) gran. Canadian Journal of Microbiology, 8(2): 229–239, doi: 10.1139/m62-029

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hayes P K, El Semary N A, Sánchez-Baracaldo P. 2007. The taxonomy of cyanobacteria: molecular insights into a difficult problem. In: Brodie J, Lewis J, eds. Unravelling the Algae: The Past, Present, and Future of Algal Systematics. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Komárek J. 1976. Taxonomic review of the genera Synechocystis Sauv. 1892, Synechococcus Nag. 1849, and Cyanothece gen. nov. (Cyanophyceae). Archiv für Protistenkunde, 118: 119–179

    Google Scholar 

  • Komárek J, Cepák V. 1998. Cytomorphological characters supporting the taxonomic validity of Cyanothece (Cyanoprokaryota). Plant Systematics and Evolution, 210(1–2): 25–39, doi: 10.1007/BF00984725

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Komárek J, Cepák V, Kaštovský J, et al. 2004. What are the cyanobacterial genera Cyanothece and Cyanobacterium? Contribution to the combined molecular and phenotype taxonomic evaluation of cyanobacterial diversity. Algological Studies, 113(1): 1–36, doi: 10.1127/1864-1318/2004/0113-0001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Komárek J, Kopecký J, Cepák V. 1999. Generic characters of the simplest cyanoprokaryotes Cyanobium, Cyanobacterium and Synechococcus. Cryptogamie Algologie, 20(3): 209–222, doi: 10.1016/S0181-1568(99)80015-4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kumar S P, Narvekar J, Nuncio M, et al. 2009. What drives the biological productivity of the Northern Indian Ocean?. In: Wiggert J D, Hood R R, Naqvi S W A, et al., eds. Indian Ocean Biogeochemical Processes and Ecological Variability. Washington, DC: American Geophysical Union, 33–56

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Lee R E. 2008. Phycology. 4th ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 547

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Margheri M C, Ventura S, Kaštovský J, et al. 2008. The taxonomic validation of the cyanobacterial genus Halothece. Phycologia, 47(5): 477–486, doi: 10.2216/07-87.1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mikhodyuk O S, Gerasimenko L M, Akimov V N, et al. 2008. Ecophysiology and polymorphism of the unicellular extremely natronophilic cyanobacterium Euhalothece sp. Z-M001 from Lake Magadi. Microbiology, 77(6): 717–725, doi: 10.1134/S0026261708060106

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mogany T, Swalaha F M, Allam M, et al. 2018. Phenotypic and genotypic characterisation of an unique indigenous hypersaline unicellular cyanobacterium, Euhalothece sp. nov.. Microbiological Research, 211: 47–56, doi: 10.1016/j.micres.2018.04.001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nübel U, Garcia-Pichel F, Muyzer G. 1997. PCR primers to amplify 16S rRNA genes from cyanobacteria. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 63(8): 3327–3332

    Google Scholar 

  • Oren A. 2009. Problems associated with the taxonomic validation of the cyanobacterial genus Halothece by Margheri et al. 2008, Phycologia 47: 477–486. Phycologia, 48(4): 313–314, doi: 10.2216/09-33.1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Park J W, Nam S W, Kim H S, et al. 2014. Enhanced photobiological H2 production by the addition of carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide in two unicellular N2-fixing cyanobacterial strains isolated from Korean coasts. Ocean Science Journal, 49(1): 11–18, doi: 10.1007/s12601-014-0002-0

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reddy K J, Haskell J B, Sherman D M, et al. 1993. Unicellular, aerobic nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria of the genus Cyanothece. Journal of Bacteriology, 175(5): 1284–1292, doi: 10.1128/jb.175.5.1284-1292.1993

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reddy K J, Soper B W, Tang J, et al. 1996. Phenotypic variation in exopolysaccharide production in the marine, aerobic nitrogen-fixing unicellular cyanobacterium Cyanothece sp.. World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology, 12(4): 311–318, doi: 10.1007/BF00340206

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rippka R, Cohen-Bazire G. 1983. The cyanobacteriales: a legitimate order based on the type strain Cyanobacterium stanieri?. Annales de l’Institut Pasteur/Microbiologie, 134(1): 21–36

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rixen T, Ramaswamy V, Gaye B, et al. 2009. Monsoonal and ENSO impacts on particle fluxes and the biological pump in the Indian ocean. In: Wiggert J D, Hood R R, Naqvi S W A, et al., eds. Indian Ocean Biogeochemical Processes and Ecological Variability. Washington, DC: American Geophysical Union, 365–383

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Roussomoustakaki M, Anagnostidis K. 1991. Cyanothece halobia, a new planktic chroococcalean cyanophyte from Hellenic heliothermal saltworks. Algological Studies/Archiv für Hydrobiologie, (64): 71–95

    Google Scholar 

  • Rudi K, Skulberg O M, Larsen F, et al. 1997. Strain characterization and classification of oxyphotobacteria in clone cultures on the basis of 16S rRNA sequences from the variable regions V6, V7, and V8. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 63(7): 2593–2599

    Google Scholar 

  • Spurr A R. 1969. A low-viscosity epoxy resin embedding medium for electron microscopy. Journal of Ultrastructure Research, 26(1–2): 31–43, doi: 10.1016/S0022-5320(69)90033-1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tamura K, Peterson D, Peterson N, et al. 2011. MEGA5: Molecular evolutionary genetics analysis using maximum likelihood, evolutionary distance, and maximum parsimony methods. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 28(10): 2731–2739, doi: 10.1093/molbev/msr121

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang Jing, Kan Junjun, Zhang Xiaodong, et al. 2017. Archaea dominate the ammonia-oxidizing community in deep-sea sediments of the eastern Indian ocean—from the equator to the bay of Bengal. Frontiers in Microbiology, 8: 415

    Google Scholar 

  • Waterbury J B, Watson S W, Valois F W. 1986. Biological and ecological characterization of the marine unicellular cyanobacterium Synechococcus. Canadian Bulletin of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 214: 71–120

    Google Scholar 

  • Welsh E A, Liberton M, Stöckel J, et al. 2008. The genome of Cyanothece 51142, a unicellular diazotrophic cyanobacterium important in the marine nitrogen cycle. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 105(39): 15094–15099, doi: 10.1073/pnas.0805418105

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zapata M, Rodríguez F, Garrido J L. 2000. Separation of chlorophylls and carotenoids from marine phytoplankton: a new HPLC method using a reversed phase C8 column and pyridine-containing mobile phases. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 195: 29–45, doi: 10.3354/meps195029

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zehr J P, Mellon M T, Zani S. 1998. New nitrogen-fixing microorganisms detected in oligotrophic oceans by amplification of nitrogenase (nifH) genes. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 64(9): 3444–3450

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang Yunyi, Chi Zhenming, Lu Weidong. 2007. Exopolysaccharide production by four cyanobacterial isolates and preliminary identification of these isolates. Journal of Ocean University of China, 6(2): 147–152, doi: 10.1007/s11802-007-0147-x

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tianjin Key Laboratory of Marine Resources and Chemistry, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin, 300457, China

    Xiaodong Zhang, Shuang Yang, Jun Sun, Jing Wang, Guicheng Zhang & Changling Ding

  2. Research Centre for Indian Ocean Ecosystem, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin, 300457, China

    Xiaodong Zhang, Shuang Yang, Jun Sun, Jing Wang, Guicheng Zhang & Changling Ding

  3. Institute of Marine Science and Technology, Shandong University, Jinan, 250110, China

    Chao Wu

Authors
  1. Xiaodong Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Shuang Yang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jun Sun
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Chao Wu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Jing Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Guicheng Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Changling Ding
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jun Sun.

Additional information

Foundation item: The National Natural Science Foundation of China under contract Nos 41876134, 41676112, 41276124, 41406155 and 41506182; the Natural Science Foundation of Tianjin under contract No. 17JCZDJC40000; the Exploration Program of Ocean with Science and Technology of Tianjin under contract No. KJXH2013-22; the Changjiang Scholar Program of Chinese Ministry of Education of China to Jun Sun.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Zhang, X., Yang, S., Sun, J. et al. Morphology, ultrastructure and phylogeny of Cyanothece sp. (Cyanobacteriaceae: Cyanophyceae) isolated from the eastern Indian Ocean. Acta Oceanol. Sin. 37, 4–10 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-018-1297-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-018-1297-y

Key words

Search

Navigation