A fluorescence method to detect cyanophycin in the symbiotic cyanobacterium, Anabaena azollae

The cyanophycin content of the heterocystous nitrogen-fixing symbiotic cyanobacterium, Anabaena azollae, which inhabits an ovoid cavity in the dorsal leaf lobes of the fern, Azolla filiculoides, is seldom analyzed. To study the cyanophycin content in vegetative cells and heterocysts of A. azollae, we used three fluorochromes: aluminum trichloride, lead citrate and Wilson citroboric solution and Coomassie brilliant blue. Blue and yellow fluorescence were emitted from the polar nodes and cytoplasm cyanophycin granules of the heterocysts when stained with the three fluorochromes. The cyanophycin observed without staining or with Coomassie brilliant blue staining did not alter the results obtained using the fluorochromes. We found that aluminum trichloride, lead acetate and Wilson citroboric solution could be used to detect cyanophycin.

Automated summary

This passage mainly discusses the method for studying the cyanophycin content in the nitrogen-fixing heterocystous symbiotic cyanobacterium, Anabaena azollae. Three fluorochromes were used to observe the blue and yellow fluorescence emitted from the polar nodes and cytoplasmic cyanophycin granules of the heterocysts. It was found that aluminum trichloride, lead acetate, and Wilson citroboric solution could be used to detect cyanophycin.