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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, October 2003, p. 6243-6249, Vol. 69, No. 10
0099-2240/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.69.10.6243-6249.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Detection of Prochlorothrix in Brackish Waters by Specific Amplification of pcb Genes

Ulrike Geiß,1* Ingo Bergmann,1 Miriam Blank,2 Rhena Schumann,3 Martin Hagemann,4 and Arne Schoor1

Departments of Aquatic Ecology,1 Applied Ecology,3 Plant Physiology,4 Institute of Biodiversity Research, Fachbereich Biowissenschaften, Universität Rostock, D-18051 Rostock, Germany2

Received 21 April 2003/ Accepted 21 July 2003

Prochlorothrix hollandica is the only filamentous chlorophyll b (Chlb)-containing oxyphotobacterium that has been found in freshwater habitats to date. Chlb serves as a light-harvesting pigment which is bound to special binding proteins (Pcb). Even though Prochlorothrix was initially characterized as a highly salt-sensitive species, we detected it in a brackish water environment that is characterized by salinities of up to 12 practical salinity units. Using PCR and reverse transcription, we amplified pcb gene fragments of phytoplankton samples taken along a salinity gradient in the eutrophic Darss-Zingst estuary (southern Baltic Sea). After sequencing, high levels of homology to the pcbB and pcbC genes of P. hollandica were found. Furthermore, autofluorescence of Prochlorothrix-like filaments that indicated that Chlb was present was detected in enrichment cultures prepared from the estuarine phytoplankton. The detection of Chlb-containing filaments, as well as the pcb and 16S ribosomal DNA sequences, suggests that Prochlorothrix is an indigenous genus in the Darss-Zingst estuary and may also inhabit many other brackish water environments. The potential of using pcb gene detection to differentiate Prochlorothrix from morphologically indistinguishable species belonging to the genera Pseudanabaena and Planktothrix (Oscillatoria) in phytoplankton analyses is discussed.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Universität Rostock, FB Biowissenschaften, Ecology, Albert-Einstein-Str. 3a, D-18051 Rostock, Germany. Phone: 49381 4986075. Fax: 49381 4986072. E-mail: ulrike.geiss{at}biologie.uni-rostock.de.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, October 2003, p. 6243-6249, Vol. 69, No. 10
0099-2240/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.69.10.6243-6249.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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