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[20] Genetic systems in cyanobacteria

1991; Academic Press; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/0076-6879(91)04022-g

1557-7988

Robert Haselkorn,

Biocrusts and Microbial Ecology

This chapter discusses genetic systems in cyanobacteria. Bacterial systems for genetic analysis include three essential components: methods for induction and selection of mutants, methods for introduction of DNA into cells, and methods for selection and analysis of complemented mutants and recombinants. The chapter discusses the features of these components that present unusual difficulties for the genetic analysis of cyanobacteria. It then describes the protocols devised in recent years that surmount most of these difficulties. All cyanobacteria carry out green plant photosynthesis, using two photosynthetic reaction center assemblies linked by a cytochrome-containing electron transport chain. The cyanobacterial genes and proteins of the photosynthetic apparatus are very similar to their counterparts in plant chloroplasts. The ability to manipulate genes of cyanobacteria makes them preferred organisms for studying structure–function relationships of the proteins of photosynthesis.