An insertion element prevents phycobilisome synthesis in N2-fixing Synechocystis sp. strain BO 8402

Article Abstract:

The insertion sequence IS8402, in the apcA gene in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. strain BO 8402, blocks the expression of the apcABC operon and thus the formation of intact phycobilisomes. The insertion element from the cyanobacterium strain from Lake Constance has 1322 base pairs with two inverted terminal repeats of 15 base pairs and an open reading frame of 399 amino acids. Insertion in target DNA results in duplication of 8 nucleotides. Amino acid sequence analysis indicates similarity of the insertion element to putative transposases of the IS4 family.

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Nitrate and phosphate affect cultivability of cyanobacteria from environments with low nutrient levels

Article Abstract:

Nitrate and phosphate concentrations higher than those found in the natural environment slowed down growth of two strains of Synechococcus spp. isolated from mesotrophic subalpine lakes. The results make clear the reason for the difficulty of isolation of these picocyanobacteria in standard cultivation.

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PCR bias in ecological analysis: a case study for quantitative Taq nuclease assays in analyses of microbial communities

Article Abstract:

Researchers found that the Taq nuclease assay can correctly measure the amount of bacterial DNA in the presence of other phylogenetically similar DNA and phylogenetically dissimilar DNA. Sensitive tests have revealed a much greater biodiversity among microbial communities.

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