Collapsing aged culture of the cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus produces compound(s) toxic to photosynthetic organisms.

ABSTRACT: Phytoplankton mortality allows effective nutrient cycling, and thus plays a pivotal role in driving biogeochemical cycles. A growing body of literature demonstrates the involvement of regulated death programs in the abrupt collapse of phytoplankton populations, and particularly implicates processes that exhibit characteristics of metazoan programmed cell death. Here, we report that the cell-free, extracellular fluid (conditioned medium) of a collapsing aged culture of the cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus is toxic to exponentially growing cells of this cyanobacterium, as well as to a large variety of photosynthetic organisms, but not to eubacteria. The toxic effect, which is light-dependent, involves oxidative stress, as suggested by damage alleviation by antioxidants, and the very hi

SUBMITTER: Cohen A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4069110 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature