Phototaxis Assays of Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 at Macroscopic and Microscopic Scales

Annik Jakob; Nils Schuergers; Annegret Wilde

doi:10.21769/BioProtoc.2328

Phototaxis Assays of Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 at Macroscopic and Microscopic Scales

Bio Protoc. 2017 Jun 5;7(11):e2328. doi: 10.21769/BioProtoc.2328.

Authors

Annik Jakob^{1

2}, Nils Schuergers³, Annegret Wilde¹

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Biology III, Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
² Spemann Graduate School of Biology and Medicine (SGBM), University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
³ Laboratory of Nanobiotechnology, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland.

Abstract

Phototaxis is a mechanism that allows cyanobacteria to respond to fluctuations in the quality and quantity of illumination by moving either towards or away from a light source. Phototactic movement on low concentration agar or agarose plates can be analyzed at macroscopic and microscopic scales representing group behavior and single cell motility, respectively. Here, we describe a detailed procedure for phototaxis assays on both scales using the unicellular cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803.

Keywords: Cyanobacteria; Motility; Photoreceptors; Phototaxis; Synechocystis.