Transcriptional regulation of heterocyst differentiation in Anabaena sp strain PCC 7120

Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120 is a filamentous cyanobacterium, in which particular vegetative cells differentiate into heterocysts with a regular spacing of 10-15 cells. Heterocysts are specialized cells for nitrogen fixation, and its differentiation is triggered by limitation of combined nitrogen in the medium. Heterocyst development takes about 24 h to complete, when approximately 10% of chromosomal genes are up-regulated with spatio-temporal regulation. This article focuses on research on transcriptional regulation of heterocyst differentiation in Anabaena sp. PCC 7120.