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The impact of culture conditions on growth and metabolomic profiles of freshwater cyanobacteria

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Abstract

Cultured cyanobacteria produce secondary metabolites with a wide range of biological activities and are an important source of natural products. In the context of secondary metabolite discovery, microbial culture conditions are expected to support optimum growth, induce maximum chemical diversity, and be suitable for the majority of cyanobacterial strains. We investigated the effect of nitrate and phosphate on biomass production and metabolomic profiles of three filamentous freshwater cyanobacterial strains: cf. Oscillatoria sp. UIC 10045, Scytonema sp. UIC 10036, and Nostoc sp. UIC 10110. A standardized inoculation procedure allowed for the assessment of cell mass production. Dried cyanobacterial cell mass was extracted and analyzed by liquid chromatography coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry, followed by comparative metabolomics analysis using XCMS Online. Results showed that low nitrate media significantly reduced cell mass production for all three strains. Low nitrate also induced production of primary metabolites (heterocyst glycolipids) in strains UIC 10036 and UIC 10110. Changes in phosphate levels affected each strain differently. Strain UIC 10110 showed a significant increase in production of merocyclophane C when cultivated in low phosphate, while strain UIC 10036 displayed higher production of tolytoxin under high phosphate. Additionally, these experiments led to the identification of a potentially new peptide produced by strain UIC 10036.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr. G. E. Chlipala for assisting with experimental design, as well as M. Rush and D. Nosal for their aid with metabolomics analysis and IT-TOF operation. This research was supported by NCI/NIH PO1 CA125066, CAPES/Science without Borders BEX 13055-13-5, and The Office of the Director, National Institutes of Health (OD) National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) T32AT007533.

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  1. Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy, College of Pharmacy, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60612, USA

    Camila M. Crnkovic, Daniel S. May & Jimmy Orjala

  2. CAPES Foundation, Ministry of Education of Brazil, Brasília, Federal District, 70040-020, Brazil

    Camila M. Crnkovic

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  1. Camila M. Crnkovic
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Correspondence to Jimmy Orjala.

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Crnkovic, C.M., May, D.S. & Orjala, J. The impact of culture conditions on growth and metabolomic profiles of freshwater cyanobacteria. J Appl Phycol 30, 375–384 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-017-1275-3

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