Biosynthesis of a sulfated exopolysaccharide, synechan, and bloom formation in the model cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. strain PCC 6803.

ABSTRACT: Extracellularpolysaccharides of bacteria contribute to biofilm formation, stress tolerance, and infectivity. Cyanobacteria, the oxygenic photoautotrophic bacteria, uniquely produce sulfated extracellular polysaccharides among bacteria to support phototrophic biofilms. In addition, sulfated polysaccharides of cyanobacteria and other organisms have been focused as beneficial biomaterial. However, very little is known about their biosynthesis machinery and function in cyanobacteria. Here, we found that the model cyanobacterium, Synechocystis sp. strain PCC 6803, formed bloom-like cell aggregates embedded in sulfated extracellular polysaccharides (designated as synechan) and identified whole set of genes responsible for synechan biosynthesis and its transcriptional regulation, thereby s

SUBMITTER: Maeda K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8205485 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature