title: pH-dependent gas vesicle formation in Microcystis.
abstract: In lakes with seasonal cyanobacterial blooms, the pH fluctuates from slightly above 7 to around 10. In this study, we found that the abundance of gas vesicles in Microcystis species, in parallel to the buoyancy of cells, increased in response to elevation of the extracellular pH. Within 48 h after pH upshift, gas vesicle protein genes (gvp) were upregulated at both mRNA and protein levels due to reduced decay of gvp transcripts. The effect of pH on GvpC level was basically unaffected by inorganic carbon availability. This is the first report that long-term pH range plays a role in controlling gas vesicle formation in certain Microcystis species.
authors.affiliation: The State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: The State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: The State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: The State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Shuai
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: The State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Xudong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: The State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, Hubei, China. kongr@ihb.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Renqiu
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kong
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D002244:Carbon / Q000378:metabolism; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D046931:Microcystis / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D011506:Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D015854:Up-Regulation; D014617:Vacuoles / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D011506:Proteins; C038524:gas vesicle protein; D002244:Carbon
keywords: Microcystis; buoyancy; gas vesicle protein; mRNA decay; pH