Exploiting eco-physiological niche to facilitate the separation of the freshwater cyanobacteria Microcystis sp. and Synechococcus sp

Abstract

In a novel approach to separate the co-occurring freshwater cyanobacteria Microcystis and Synechoccous, published ecological characteristics are used to manipulate temperature and nutrient concentrations to successfully establish a unialgal Microcystis strain. The simple protocol has implications for future cyanobacterial culturing approaches and the establishment of new cyanobacteria strains.

Keywords: Cyanobacteria; Isolation; Microcystis; Purification; Synechococcus.