Dependence on growth phase and temperature of the composition of a nitrogen-fixing cyanobacterium.

The effects of growth phase and temperature on the molecular and elemental composition of Anabaena variabilis cells grown under nitrogen-fixing conditions have been studied in batch cultures. Irrespective of the growth temperature, this cyanobacterium underwent a gradual increase in its protein and lipid contents in the transition from exponential to deceleration phase that was accompanied by a parallel decrease in carbohydrates and nucleic acids. Also in response to this, transition increases in carbon, nitrogen, and hydrogen contents with a concomitant decline in oxygen content was a common pattern for all growth temperatures tested. Whereas temperature rise did not affect significantly the protein and carbohydrate contents in exponentially growing cells, for cells in the deceleration phase proteins declined and carbohydrates increased with increasing temperature. From growth and elemental composition data several bioenergetic parameters were derived for A. variabilis cells. Both aging of cultures and rise in temperature resulted in increases of both biomass degree of reduction and heat of combustion. Nevertheless, biomass energetic yield was only slightly affected by variations in growth temperature and the maintenance coefficient was virtually constant within the range of temperatures tested. (c) 1992 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.