Abstract
Cyanobacteria are an ancient, diverse, and ecologically important group of oxygenic-photosynthetic eubacteria related phylogenetically to plant chloroplasts (Rippka et al. 1979; Wilmotte 1994). Some members of unicellular genera such as Synechococcus and Synechocystis have physiological mechanisms for DNA uptake and are readily transformed genetically (Porter 1986; Shestakov and Reaston, 1987). DNA can be introduced into additional strains, including filamentous forms capable of nitrogen-fixation and heterocyst differentiation, by conjugal transfer from Escherichia coli mediated by broad host-range conjugative plasmids (Elhai and Wolk, 1988). Many other cyanobacteria with interesting properties appear incapable of biological DNA uptake. For these, electroporation offers an approach that has widely allowed the transformation of diverse bacteria (Halloway 1993). Even where other methods are possible, electroporation may be advantageous because of simplicity or efficiency. Electrotransformation of cyanobacteria was first demonstrated by Thiel and Poo (1989) and has since been applied to several strains (Chiang et al. 1992; Moser et al. 1993; Muhlenhoff and Chauvat 1996; Chapter 29). Electroporation in addition provides an efficient method for extracting macromolecules from cells.
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