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The relationship between critical pressure and width of gas vesicles in isolates of Planktothrix rubescens from Lake Zürich

School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Woodland Road, Bristol BS8 1UG, UK¹

Author for correspondence: A. E. Walsby. e-mail: A.E.Walsby{at}bristol.ac.uk

The mean critical collapse pressure (p_c) of gas vesicles in 81 strains of the cyanobacterium Planktothrix rubescens from Lake Zürich, Switzerland, was bimodally distributed between a minimum of 0·86 MPa and a maximum of 1·17 MPa. Measurements were made of the cylinder diameter (d) of gas vesicles isolated from seven of the strains. The mean diameter, which varied from 48 to 61 nm, was inversely related to p_c, in keeping with the theory of strength of thin-walled rigid cylinders. These measurements extended the range of p_c–width relationship of gas vesicles, which can be described by the expression p_c=461(d/nm)^-1·53 MPa. p_c was correlated with gas vesicle genotype (see the accompanying paper by S. J. Beard, B. A. Handley, P. K. Hayes & A. E. Walsby, Microbiology 145, 2757–2768): of the 81 strains investigated, all those with the gas vesicle genotype GV2 produced gas vesicles with a mean p_c of less than 1·0 MPa, whereas those of GV3 had a mean p_c of greater than 1·0 MPa. It is suggested that gas vesicles of the GV3 strains, which are narrower and stronger than any previously recorded in freshwater cyanobacteria, have evolved to withstand the high hydrostatic pressures during deep winter mixing in Lake Zürich.

Keywords: cyanobacterial diversity, gas vesicles, Planktothrix rubescens

Abbreviations: p_c, critical pressure

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