@article {Jacquet2001, title = {Cell cycle regulation by light in Prochlorococcus strains}, journal = {Applied and Environmental Microbiology}, volume = {67}, number = {2}, year = {2001}, note = {tex.mendeley-tags: RCC,rcc}, pages = {782{\textendash}790}, abstract = {

The effect of light on the synchronization of cell cycling was investigated in several strains of the oceanic photosynthetic prokaryote Prochlorococcus using flow cytometry. When exposed to a light-dark (L-D) cycle with an irradiance of 25 mu mol of quanta m(-2) s(-1), the low-light-adapted strain SS 120 appeared to be better synchronized than the high-light-adapted strain PCC 9511. Submitting LD-entrained populations to shifts (advances or delays) in the timing of the "light on" signal translated to corresponding shifts in the initiation of the S phase, suggesting that this signal is a key parameter for the synchronization of population cell cycles. Cultures that were shifted from an L-D cycle to continuous irradiance showed persistent diel oscillations of flow-cytometric signals (light scatter and chlorophyll fluorescence) but with significantly reduced amplitudes and a phase shift. Complete darkness arrested most of the cells in the G(1), phase of the cell cycle, indicating that light is required to trigger the initiation of DNA replication and cell division. However, some cells also arrested in the S phase, suggesting that cell cycle controls in Prochlorococcus spp. are not as strict as in marine Synechococcus spp. Shifting Prochlorococcus cells from low to high irradiance translated quasi-instantaneously into an increase of cells in both the S and G(2) phases of the cell cycle and then into faster growth, whereas the inverse shift induced rapid slowing of the population growth rate. These data suggest a close coupling between irradiance levels and cell cycling in Prochloroeoccus spp.

}, keywords = {cyanobacteria, Equatorial Pacific, Gene Expression, Growth, Mediterranean Sea, North Atlantic, Photosynthetic Prokaryote, picoplankton, Populations, rcc, Synechococcus}, doi = {10.1128/AEM.67.2.782-790.2001}, author = {Jacquet, S and Partensky, F and Marie, D and Casotti, R and Vaulot, D} }