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Salinity Tolerance of the Chlorophyll b-synthesizing Cyanobacterium Prochlorothrix hollandica Strain SAG 10.89

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Abstract

Ecophysiological investigations on the salinity acclimation of the cyanobacterium Prochlorothrix hollandica SAG 10.89 led to significantly revised salinity tolerance limits. Besides potential effects of cultivation techniques, clear ion composition effects mainly explain formerly described hypersensitivity to NaCl-mediated salinity and lack of osmolyte detection. An extraordinarily broad plasticity of cellular chlorophyll a/b ratios occurred with variations of NaCl-induced salinity. Photosynthesis characteristics, pigment regulation, respiration, and biomass yield in growth medium with field-like ion composition indicated generally reduced acclimation pressure. A simultaneously significant increase in osmolyte (sucrose) accumulation indicated more efficient osmotic acclimation. Minor growth inhibition up to salinities of 10 practical salinity units enlarged the potential habitat of P. hollandica but at the most to about 300,000 km2 in the Baltic Sea. This supports probable observations of Prochlorothrix sp. in phytoplankton assemblages of open waters in Baltic Sea-monitoring studies. Brackish habitats differ from so far known habitats of Prochlorothrix spp. in turbidity, productivity, and plankton composition. Adjusted physiological features dispel fundamental doubts on the establishment of filamentous prochlorophytes in brackish waters.

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Acknowledgments

We thank S. Görs for a chromatographic verification of sucrose accumulation. The detailed and helpful suggestions of an anonymous reviewer are kindly acknowledged. This work was partially supported by a grant of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Biosciences, Aquatic Ecology, University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany

    Ingo Bergmann, Ulrike Geiß-Brunschweiger & Arne Schoor

  2. Plant Physiology, University of Rostock, Albert-Einstein-Str. 3a, 18051, Rostock, Germany

    Martin Hagemann

  3. Institute of Biosciences, Ecology, University of Rostock, Albert-Einstein-Str. 3a, 18051, Rostock, Germany

    Arne Schoor

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  1. Ingo Bergmann
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Correspondence to Arne Schoor.

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Bergmann, I., Geiß-Brunschweiger, U., Hagemann, M. et al. Salinity Tolerance of the Chlorophyll b-synthesizing Cyanobacterium Prochlorothrix hollandica Strain SAG 10.89. Microb Ecol 55, 685–696 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-007-9311-5

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