This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Becker, S.
Right arrow Articles by Ernst, A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Becker, S.
Right arrow Articles by Ernst, A.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Becker, S.
Right arrow Articles by Ernst, A.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, September 2002, p. 4486-4494, Vol. 68, No. 9
0099-2240/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.68.9.4486-4494.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Quantitative Tracing, by Taq Nuclease Assays, of a Synechococcus Ecotype in a Highly Diversified Natural Population{dagger}

Sven Becker,1* Michael Fahrbach,1 Peter Böger,1 and Anneliese Ernst2

Lehrstuhl für Physiologie und Biochemie der Pflanzen, Universität Konstanz, 78457 Konstanz, Germany,1 NIOO Centre for Estuarine and Coastal Ecology, 4400 AC Yerseke, The Netherlands2

Received 26 December 2001/ Accepted 4 June 2002

Quantitative Taq nuclease assays (TNAs) (TaqMan PCR), nested PCR in combination with denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE), and epifluorescence microscopy were used to analyze the autotrophic picoplankton (APP) of Lake Constance. Microscopic analysis revealed dominance of phycoerythrin (PE)-rich Synechococcus spp. in the pelagic zone of this lake. Cells passing a 3-µm-pore-size filter were collected during the growth period of the years 1999 and 2000. The diversity of PE-rich Synechococcus spp. was examined using DGGE to analyze GC-clamped amplicons of a noncoding section of the 16S-23S intergenic spacer in the ribosomal operon. In both years, genotypes represented by three closely related PE-rich Synechococcus strains of our culture collection dominated the population, while other isolates were traced sporadically or were not detected in their original habitat by this method. For TNAs, primer-probe combinations for two taxonomic levels were used, one to quantify genomes of all known Synechococcus-type cyanobacteria in the APP of Lake Constance and one to enumerate genomes of a single ecotype represented by the PE-rich isolate Synechococcus sp. strain BO 8807. During the growth period, genome numbers of known Synechococcus spp. varied by 2 orders of magnitude (2.9 x 103 to 3.1 x 105 genomes per ml). The ecotype Synechococcus sp. strain BO 8807 was detected in every sample at concentrations between 1.6 x 101 and 1.3 x 104 genomes per ml, contributing 0.02 to 5.7% of the quantified cyanobacterial picoplankton. Although the quantitative approach taken in this study has disclosed several shortcomings in the sampling and detection methods, this study demonstrated for the first time the extensive internal dynamics that lie beneath the seemingly arbitrary variations of a population of microbial photoautotrophs in the pelagic habitat.

* Corresponding author. Present address: School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Woodland Road, Bristol BS8 1UG, United Kingdom. Phone: 44 (0)117 9287475. E-mail: SvenBecker{at}gmx.ch.

{dagger} This is publication 2846 of NIOO, Centre for Estuarine and Coastal Ecology, Yerseke, The Netherlands.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, September 2002, p. 4486-4494, Vol. 68, No. 9
0099-2240/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.68.9.4486-4494.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Sanchez-Baracaldo, P., Handley, B. A., Hayes, P. K. (2008). Picocyanobacterial community structure of freshwater lakes and the Baltic Sea revealed by phylogenetic analyses and clade-specific quantitative PCR. Microbiology 154: 3347-3357 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Koskenniemi, K., Lyra, C., Rajaniemi-Wacklin, P., Jokela, J., Sivonen, K. (2007). Quantitative Real-Time PCR Detection of Toxic Nodularia Cyanobacteria in the Baltic Sea. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 73: 2173-2179 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Chen, F., Wang, K., Kan, J., Suzuki, M. T., Wommack, K. E. (2006). Diverse and Unique Picocyanobacteria in Chesapeake Bay, Revealed by 16S-23S rRNA Internal Transcribed Spacer Sequences.. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 72: 2239-2243 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Zinser, E. R., Coe, A., Johnson, Z. I., Martiny, A. C., Fuller, N. J., Scanlan, D. J., Chisholm, S. W. (2006). Prochlorococcus Ecotype Abundances in the North Atlantic Ocean As Revealed by an Improved Quantitative PCR Method. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 72: 723-732 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Pernthaler, J., Amann, R. (2005). Fate of Heterotrophic Microbes in Pelagic Habitats: Focus on Populations. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 69: 440-461 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Ernst, A., Deicher, M., Herman, P. M. J., Wollenzien, U. I. A. (2005). Nitrate and Phosphate Affect Cultivability of Cyanobacteria from Environments with Low Nutrient Levels. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 71: 3379-3383 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Skovhus, T. L., Ramsing, N. B., Holmstrom, C., Kjelleberg, S., Dahllof, I. (2004). Real-Time Quantitative PCR for Assessment of Abundance of Pseudoalteromonas Species in Marine Samples. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 70: 2373-2382 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Dorigo, U., Jacquet, S., Humbert, J.-F. (2004). Cyanophage Diversity, Inferred from g20 Gene Analyses, in the Largest Natural Lake in France, Lake Bourget. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 70: 1017-1022 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Vaitomaa, J., Rantala, A., Halinen, K., Rouhiainen, L., Tallberg, P., Mokelke, L., Sivonen, K. (2003). Quantitative Real-Time PCR for Determination of Microcystin Synthetase E Copy Numbers for Microcystis and Anabaena in Lakes. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 69: 7289-7297 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Janse, I., Meima, M., Kardinaal, W. E. A., Zwart, G. (2003). High-Resolution Differentiation of Cyanobacteria by Using rRNA-Internal Transcribed Spacer Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 69: 6634-6643 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Fuller, N. J., Marie, D., Partensky, F., Vaulot, D., Post, A. F., Scanlan, D. J. (2003). Clade-Specific 16S Ribosomal DNA Oligonucleotides Reveal the Predominance of a Single Marine Synechococcus Clade throughout a Stratified Water Column in the Red Sea. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 69: 2430-2443 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Ernst, A., Becker, S., Wollenzien, U. I. A., Postius, C. (2003). Ecosystem-dependent adaptive radiations of picocyanobacteria inferred from 16S rRNA and ITS-1 sequence analysis. Microbiology 149: 217-228 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»