Lysogen formation governs colonies while lytic infection is more prevalent in single cells of the bloom-forming cyanobacterium, <i>Microcystis</i>.

ABSTRACT: While the bloom-forming cyanobacterium Microcystis can exist as free-living single cells or within dense mucilaginous colonies, the drivers and consequences of colony formation remain unclear. Here, we integrated metatranscriptomic datasets from two Microcystis bloom events in Lake Taihu, China, to analyze and validate the functional differences between colonial and single-cell Microcystis. Our results confirmed colony expression profiles were disproportionately enriched in Microcystis transcripts (and functions) compared to other prokaryotic taxa. Concomitantly, viral infection strategies diverged by Microcystis community morphology: colony-associated cells expressed lysogeny-associated genes, while single cells exhibited increased signatures of lytic in

SUBMITTER: Huang X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11844469 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature