Deposition of condensed phosphate as an effect of varying sulfur deficiency in the cyanobacterium synechococcus sp anacystis nidulans
Lawry, N.H.; Jensen, T.E.
Archives of Microbiology 120(1): 1-8
1979
ISSN/ISBN: 0302-8933 DOI: 10.1007/bf00413264
Accession: 005108064
Uptake of orthophosphate and deposition of condensed phosphate were investigated in cells of Synechococcus sp. (A. nidulans) deficient in P or S. When P was restored to P-starved cells, uptake was rapid and immediate, with the greatest accumulation occurring within the 1st hour. Uptake was optimum in the pH 7.5-8.5 range. Long-term (6-day) studies of uptake and deposition with cells exposed to a wide range of S deficiency showed that both processes were greatest when the level of exogenous S was reduced to 0. The increase in cellular P as determined chemically was in agreement with the increased number and size of polyphosphate bodies at the ultrastructural level. Possible mechanisms for the control of P uptake and condensed phosphate formation by exogenous S are discussed.