title: Homeostasis of cell composition during prolonged darkness.
abstract: The chemical composition of organisms in relation to their environmental resource availability is an area of intense research activity. We studied the changes in cell composition of the cyanobacterium Phormidium autumnale in response to prolonged darkness. Cells allocated their internal resources in a homeostatic manner, oxidizing all the three major cellular constituents in a proportional way. This resulted in constant C/N and carbohydrates, lipids and proteins ratios that remained unaltered throughout the whole incubation period. We propose the maintenance of balanced cell composition (homeostasis) as an evolutionary strategy related to environmental transitory changes.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze del Mare, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, 60131Ancona, Italy.
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Montechiaro
authors.forename: Carol J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Hirschmugl
authors.forename: John A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Raven
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Giordano
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D000458:Cyanobacteria / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000528:radiation effects; D003624:Darkness; D006706:Homeostasis / Q000528:radiation effects; D008027:Light; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins