%0 Journal Article
%T Morphological Studies of Synechocystis sp. UNIWG under Polyhydroxyalkanoate Accumulating Conditions
%A Yew
%A S. P.
%A Jau
%A M. H.
%A Yong
%A K. H.
%A Abed
%A R. M. M.
%J Malaysian Journal of Microbiology
%D 2005
%I Malaysian Society for Microbiology
%X Some cyanobacteria are capable of producing polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA), among which is the unicellular Synechocystis sp. Here, we report the identification and preliminary characterization of a newly isolated strain of Synechocystis sp. UNIWG that is capable of accumulating unusually high number of PHA granules. This cyanobacterium was isolated from oil-contaminated brackish water sample from Wadi Gaza, Palestine. Surprisingly, Nile Blue A staining of PHA-accumulating cells failed to reveal the accumulated PHA granules. Ultrastructural analysis of Synechocystis sp. UNIWG cells grown under nitrogen limiting conditions revealed the presence of up to 17 electron-transparent granules in the cell cytoplasm. Gas chromatography analysis further revealed that these cells contain up to 14 wt% poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) of the cell dry weight. Ultrastructural analysis also revealed that Synechocystis sp. UNIWG cells from the growth phase were covered with a dense layer of pilus like structures. However, these pilus-like structures were not observed in cells from the PHA-accumulation phase. The possible roles of these pilus-like structures and PHA accumulation for the survival of this cyanobacterium is discussed here.
%K Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA)
%K Synechocystis strain UNIWG
%K Transmission electron microscopy
%K Intracellular granules
%K Pilus
%U http://web.usm.my/mjm/issues/vol1no1/vol1_research7.pdf