Interactions of light with gas vesicles in cyanobacteria of different colonial morphology
不同群体形态蓝藻的气囊与光的相互作用研究

Many kinds of planktonic cyanobacteria possess gas vesicles, which interacts with light in a number of ways. To investigate the interactions, absorption spectra and turbidity of cyanobacteria suspension with intact and collapsed gas vesicles was analyzed, and absolute gas vesicle volume was determined. Light transmission in algal suspension was enhanced due to light scattering of gas vesicles in forward direction, on the other hand, increased cell volume by gas vesicles favored light absorption by intact cells and the effect was more evident in colonial and filamentous cyanobacteria. Light with longer wavelength (e.g. red light) had higher transmissionin cyanobacteria suspension than light with shorter wavelength, and similarly the effect was more evident in colonial and filamentous cyanobacteria. Due to the multiple scattering of light in colonial and filamentous cyanobacteria, measurement of relative gas vesicles volume by optical methods may result in great errors, instead of that capillary pressure tube method is suitable for the measurement of absolute volume of gas vesicles because colonial and filamentous cyanobacteria can be easily concentrated.