Flow Cytometry–Based Methods for Estimating DNA Content and Live-Dead Cells in Cyanobacteria

Abstract

Cyanobacteria are Gram-negative, photosynthetic, oxygen-producing bacteria that thrive in a variety of harsh environmental conditions (Whitton and Potts 2012). In addition to oxygen production, several cyanobacteria can fix atmospheric nitrogen due to the presence of nitrogenase enzymes. Therefore, cyanobacteria play an important role in sustaining life on Earth. Cyanobacteria are found in different morphological forms such as filamentous, unicellular and colonial forms. Filamentous forms generally show cellular differentiation during their development and may possess different cell types such as heterocysts for nitrogen fixation, akinetes as a resting stage cell and hormogonia as a reproductive short motile filament (Claessen et al. 2014; Herrero et al. 2016). Cyanobacteria are known for the production of industrially important metabolites and biofuels (Jones and Mayfield 2012; Neilan et al. 2013; Wijffels et al. 2013; Oliver and Atsumi 2014). © 2024 selection and editorial matter, Shailendra P. Singh, Rajeshwar P. Sinha and Donat-P. Häder; individual chapters, the contributors.