Effect of high-CO2 on the growth of the thermophilic cyanobacterium on plates

Abstract

Cultivation on solid media is an essential technique for the isolation of desired strains or mutants of various organisms. As cyanobacteria especially thermophilic species generally require longer time for growth than bacteria, acceleration of growth is desirable. Growth of the thermophilic cyanobacterium, Synechococcus elongatus, was examined under different CO2 concentrations with plates of different gels at 48°C. The cyanobacterial colonies showed faster growth in their diameters by 3, 4 and 2 times under 2% CO2 than under air, on the agar, agarose and gellan gum plates, respectively. The cells in the colonies were competent to grow after 2 months stock at room temperature under dim light, while the cells cultivated in the liquid medium were not.