Isolation and characterization of pigment mutants from a filamentous cyanobacterium

Five strains of a pigment mutant were isolated following UV irradiation and N-methyl-N′-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) mutagenesis from a non-nitrogen fixing mutant of the cyanobacteriumGloeotrichia ghosei. Two of them (B-1 and V-1) were isolated by UV mutagenesis and other three (B-3, B-7 and Br-6) by MNNG mutagenesis. Among the five strains cultures of three strains (B-1, B-3 and B-7) were typically blue-green in colour. Culture of strain V-1 was found to be violet-pink and of Br-6 was brownish in colour. The parent strain of these mutants was dark-blue in colour. Blue-green mutants showed the predominance of phycocyanin (610 nm) whereas violet-pink and brown strains showed the predominance of phycoerythrin (550 nm) in the absorption spectra of water-soluble pigments. In contrast to these strains their parent strain showed both the absorption peaks (at 550 and 610 nm). Occurrence of stable pigment mutants of a filamentous cyanobacterium indicates that the synthesis of water-soluble pigments is genetically controlled in these mutant strains.