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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, July 2008, p. 4530-4534, Vol. 74, No. 14
0099-2240/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.02479-07
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Facilitation of Robust Growth of Prochlorococcus Colonies and Dilute Liquid Cultures by "Helper" Heterotrophic Bacteria{triangledown}

J. Jeffrey Morris,1 Robin Kirkegaard,1 Martin J. Szul,1 Zackary I. Johnson,2 and Erik R. Zinser1*

Department of Microbiology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996,1 Department of Oceanography, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii 968222

Received 2 November 2007/ Accepted 16 May 2008

Axenic (pure) cultures of marine unicellular cyanobacteria of the Prochlorococcus genus grow efficiently only if the inoculation concentration is large; colonies form on semisolid medium at low efficiencies. In this work, we describe a novel method for growing Prochlorococcus colonies on semisolid agar that improves the level of recovery to approximately 100%. Prochlorococcus grows robustly at low cell concentrations, in liquid or on solid medium, when cocultured with marine heterotrophic bacteria. Once the Prochlorococcus cell concentration surpasses a critical threshold, the "helper" heterotrophs can be eliminated with antibiotics to produce axenic cultures. Our preliminary evidence suggests that one mechanism by which the heterotrophs help Prochlorococcus is the reduction of oxidative stress.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: M409 WLS, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996. Phone: (865) 974-9283. Fax: (865) 974-4007. E-mail: ezinser{at}utk.edu

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 23 May 2008.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, July 2008, p. 4530-4534, Vol. 74, No. 14
0099-2240/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.02479-07
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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