Titel
Confocal microscopy reveals alterations of thylakoids in Limnospira fusiformis during prophage induction
Autor*in
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Abstract
The alkaliphilic cyanobacterium Limnospira fusiformis is an integral part in food webs of tropical soda lakes. Recently, sudden breakdowns of Limnospira sp. blooms in their natural environment have been linked to cyanophage infections. We studied ultrastructural details and prophage components in the laboratory by means of confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). For a comparison at the subcellular level, we included transmission electron microscopy (TEM) material of infected cells collected during a field survey. Compared to TEM, CLSM has the advantage to rapidly providing results for whole, intact cells. Moreover, many cells can be studied at once. We chemically induced lysogenic cyanophages by means of mitomycin C (MMC) treatments and studied the ultrastructural alterations of host cells. In parallel, the number of cyanophages was obtained by flow cytometry. After treatment of the culture with MMC, flow cytometry showed a strong increase in viral counts, i.e., prophage induction. CLSM reflected the re-organization of L. fusiformis with remarkable alterations of thylakoid arrangements after prophage induction. Our study provides a first step towards 3D visualization of ultrastructure of cyanobacteria and showed the high potential of CLSM to investigate viral-mediated modifications in these groups.
Stichwort
Flow cytometryConfocal laser scanning microscopyCyanobacteriaCyanophagesMitomycin CPhotoautotrophMicroorganism
Objekt-Typ
Sprache
Englisch [eng]
Persistent identifier
phaidra.univie.ac.at/o:1536462
Erschienen in
Titel
Protoplasma
Band
258
Ausgabe
6
ISSN
0033-183X
Erscheinungsdatum
2021
Seitenanfang
1251
Seitenende
1259
Publication
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Fördergeber
Austrian Science Fund (FWF) — P19911
Erscheinungsdatum
2021
Zugänglichkeit
Rechte
Rechteangabe
© The Author(s) 2021
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