Mutations in Novel Lipopolysaccharide Biogenesis Genes Confer Resistance to Amoebal Grazing in Synechococcus elongatus.

ABSTRACT: In natural and artificial aquatic environments, population structures and dynamics of photosynthetic microbes are heavily influenced by the grazing activity of protistan predators. Understanding the molecular factors that affect predation is critical for controlling toxic cyanobacterial blooms and maintaining cyanobacterial biomass production ponds for generating biofuels and other bioproducts. We previously demonstrated that impairment of the synthesis or transport of the O-antigen component of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) enables resistance to amoebal grazing in the model predator-prey system consisting of the heterolobosean amoeba HGG1 and the cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongates PCC 7942 (R. S. Simkovsky et al., Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 109:16678-16683, 2012,http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pna

SUBMITTER: Simkovsky R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4836432 | biostudies-literature | 2016 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature