On the relation between phosphate uptake and growth of the cyanobacterium Anacystis nidulans

The energy dependent phosphate uptake by the cyanobacterium Anacystis nidulans has been analysed in terms of a "linear energy converter" that describes the interrelationship between phosphate incorporation into the polyphosphate pool and the photosynthetic proton flux at the thylakoid membrane. It is assumed that both processes are coupled in such a way that uptake proceeds with optimal efficiency at the prevailing phosphate concentration in the growth medium. On the basis of this model two important parameters of the uptake system can be calculated: first, a conductivity coefficient that reflects the activity of the uptake system and second, a minimal threshold value of external phosphate at which uptake ceases. The theoretical data are shown to fit the experimentally observed uptake behaviour of cyanobacteria when the same population is subjected to a transition from growth on low to high phosphate concentrations, mimicking a situation that frequently leads in natural waters to an algal bloom.