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. 2013 Aug 26;28(5):266–271. doi: 10.1007/s12250-013-3340-7

Cultivation and characterization of the MaMV-DC cyanophage that infects bloom-forming cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa

Tong Ou 1, Sanhua Li 1, Xiangyong Liao 1, Qiya Zhang 1,✉
PMCID: PMC8208409  PMID: 23990146

Abstract

The MaMV-DC cyanophage, which infects the bloom-forming cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa, was isolated from Lake Dianchi, Kunming, China. Twenty-one cyanobacterial strains were used to detect the host range of MaMV-DC. Microcystic aeruginosa FACHB-524 and plaque purification were used to isolate individual cyanophages, and culturing MaMV-DC with cyanobacteria allowed us to prepare purified cyanophages for further analysis. Electron microscopy demonstrated that the negatively stained viral particles are tadpole-shaped with an icosahedral head approximately 70 nm in diameter and a contractile tail approximately 160 nm in length. Using one-step growth experiments, the latent period and burst size of MaMV-DC were estimated to be 24–48 hours and approximately 80 infectious units per cell, respectively. Restriction endonuclease digestion and agarose gel electrophoresis were performed using purified MaMV-DC genomic DNA, and the genome size was estimated to be approximately 160 kb. Sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) analysis revealed four major structural proteins. These results support the growing interest in using freshwater cyanophages to control bloom-forming cyanobacterium.

Keywords: Cyanophages, Myovirus, Microcystis aeruginosa Bloom-forming cyanobacterium, Genomic DNA, Major structural proteins

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