Applied Cell Biology
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Scytonemin synthesis in Oscillatoria nigro-viridis
Nathan Hoyt, Ratnakar Deole
Department ofNatural Sciences,Northeastern StateUniversity,BrokenArrow, (USA)
Abstract
Scytonemin absorbsUVlight that can be destructive to biologicalmolecules likeDNA,RNA, Proteins, etc. Scytonemin is widespread in the microbial world and has been reported in many microorganisms including eubacteria, cyanobacteria, micro-and macro-algae, as well as some multi-cellular organisms. In the present study we investigatedcyanobacteriumOscillatoria nigro-viridis isolated from solar lakes often exposed to UV stress, for production of scytonemin. The cyanobacterium was found to synthesize scytonemin (absorption maximum at 250 nm) when isolated andpurified,under UV stress.
The present study provides a first insight into scytonemin biosynthesis in genus Oscillatoriaeand thus widens the field of research for molecular analysis of these evolutionary and industrially important compounds.
