• Journal of Photoscience
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• 제9권2호
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• pp.439-441
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• 2002

Cyanobacteria are the dominant micro flora in rice-fields, contributing significantly to fertility as a natural biofertilizer. Recent studies show a continuous depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer, and the consequent increase in solar UV-B (280-315 nm) radiation reaching the Earth's surface. UV-B radiation causes reduction in growth, survival, protein content, heterocyst frequency and fixation of carbon and nitrogen in many cyanobacteria. UV -B induced bleaching of pigments, disassembly of phycobilisomal complexes, thymine dimer formation and alterations in membrane permeability have also been encounterd in a number of cyanobacteria. However, certain cyanobacteria produce photoprotective compounds such as water soluble colorless mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs) and the lipid soluble yellow-brown colored sheath pigment, scytonemin, to counteract the damaging effects of UV-B. Cyanobacteria, such as Anabaena sp., Nostoc commune, Scytonema sp. and Lyngbya sp. were isolated from rice fields and other habitats in India and screened for the presence of photoprotective compounds. A circadian induction of the synthesis of MAAs by UV -B was noted in a number of cyanobacteria. Polychromatic action spectra for the induction of MAAs in Anabaena sp. and Nostoc commune also show the induction to be UV-B dependent peaking at 290 nm. Another photoprotective compound, scytonemin, with an absorption maximum at 386 nm (also absorbs at 300, 278, 252 and 212 nm), was detected in many cyanobacteria. In conclusion, a particular cyanobacterium having photoprotective compounds may be a potent candidate as biofertilizer for crop plants.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제16권2호
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• pp.240-246
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• 2006

Cyanobacteria are present abundantly in rice fields and are important in helping to maintain rice fields fertility through nitrogen fixation. Many rice fields soil contain a high density of cyanobactera, and over 50% of cyanobacterial genera that are in existence in rice paddy fields are heterocystous filamentous forms. A total of 142 isolates of heterocystous filamentous cyanobacteria were screened from 100 soil samples taken from rice paddy fields in 10 different locations across Korea, classified according to their morphological characteristics under light microscopy, and their susceptibly to fungicides examined. The collected blue-green alga were classified into a total of 14 genera, including seven genera of filamentous cyanobacteria and seven genera of nonfilamentous cyanobacteria. In particular, 142 heterocystous filamentous cyanobacteria were isolated and classified into six genera, including Anabaena, Nostoc, Calothrix, Cylindrospermum, Nodularia, Scytomena, and Tolypotrix. Yet, over 90% of the heterocystous filamentous cyanobacteria isolated from the rice paddy fields belonged to two genera: Anabaena and Nostoc. The response of 129 $N_2-fixing$ cyanobacterial isolates, 53 Anabaena and 76 Nostoc, to 10 fungicides was then investigated. The results showed that the Nostoc spp. were more tolerant of the ten tested fungicides than the Anabaena spp., and among the ten tested fungicides, benomyl showed the highest acute toxicity to Anabaena spp. and Nostoc spp. In conclusion, although benomyl is a very useful agent to control phytopathogenic fungi, the application of this fungicide to rice fields should be considered because of its toxicity to the heterocystous filamentous cyanobacteria.

• ALGAE
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• 제37권1호
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• pp.1-14
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• 2022

Cyanobacteria are distributed worldwide, and many new cyanobacterial species are discovered in tropical region. The Nostoc-like genus Amazonocrinis has been separated from the genus Nostoc based on polyphasic methods. However, species diversity within this genus remains poorly understood systematically because only one species (Amazonocrinis nigriterrae) has been described. In this study, two novel strains (NUACC02 and NUACC03) were isolated from moist rice field soil in Thailand. These two strains were characterized using a polyphasic approach, based on morphology, 16S rRNA phylogenetic analysis, internal transcribed spacer secondary structure and ecology. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequences confirmed that the two novel strains formed a monophyletic clade related to the genus Amazonocrinis and were distant from the type species A. nigriterrae. The 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity (<98.1%) between novel strains and all other closely related taxa including the Amazonocrinis members exceeded the cutoff for species delimitation in bacteriology, reinforcing the presence of a new Amazonocrinis species. Furthermore, the novel strains possessed unique phenotypic characteristics such as the presence of the sheath, necridia-like cells, larger cell dimension and akinete cell arrangement in long-chains and the singularity of D1-D1', Box-B, V2, and V3 secondary structures that distinguished them from other Amazonocrinis members. Considering all the results, we described our two strains as Amazonocrinis thailandica sp. nov. in accordance with the International Code of Nomenclature for Algae, Fungi and Plants.