Effect of phosphorus starvation on the cell cycle of the photosynthetic prokaryote Prochlorococcus spp.

Abstract

MEPS Marine Ecology Progress Series Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsTheme Sections MEPS 132:265-274 (1996) - doi:10.3354/meps132265 Effect of phosphorus starvation on the cell cycle of the photosynthetic prokaryote Prochlorococcus spp. Parpais J, Marie D, Partensky F, Morin P, Vaulot D The influence of phosphorus (P) starvation on the cell cycle of Prochlorococcus was studied for several strains from the Mediterranean Sea, the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. P starvation could only be induced at high N/P ratio (&GT=150). In P-starved stationary phase, the fraction of cells in G1 dropped markedly, while cells accumulated not only in G2, but also in the DNA synthesis phase S, indicating that cells were not arrested at a precise cell cycle location but in all cell cycle phases. The percentage of P-starved cells in each phase varied slightly between strains. For the Mediterranean Sea strain CCMP 1378, cell cycle arrest in G1 and G2 could be reversed by addition of phosphates, while cells arrested in S could not resume their cycle and died. Such irreversible arrest in S had never been reported previously in phytoplankton. This suggests that cell cycle controls are not very tight in Prochlorococcus, since cells are not prevented from entering the critical S phase in the absence of phosphorus. Prochlorococcus . Phosphate starvation . Cell cycle . Flow cytometry . Growth rate Full text in pdf format PreviousNextExport citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in MEPS Vol. 132. Publication date: February 29, 1996 Print ISSN:0171-8630; Online ISSN:1616-1599 Copyright © 1996 Inter-Research.