BG11 without NaNO3, and can add cycloheximide if there is contamination from phytos; i.e. https://www.researchgate.net/post/How_can_I_differentiate_between_cyanobacteria_and_microalgae_in_agar_plates

Hello Karo,

How are you doing? Here at CIIMAR we host a Culture Collection (https://lege.ciimar.up.pt/) that is member of World Federation for Culture Collections (WFCC), European Culture Collections' Organisation (ECCO) and it is also part of the Research Infrastructure EMBRC.PT. It contains many or mostly cyanobacterial strains. The first choice culture media are Z8 (Kotai, 1972), BG11 (Rippka, 1988) and BG110 (zero nitrogen). These media are suplemented with 25 g/L of tropical marine salt and vit B12 (10 µg/L) for marine cyanobacteria strains. You can see in our catalogue other informations that you may need (https://lege.ciimar.up.pt/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/LEGE-CC-Catalog.pdf).

All the best!

Yes BG11 is the preferred medium for cyanobacteria. But before focusing on the specific medium you need to focus on what cyanobacteria.

If your aim is to target a specific cyanobacterial group, for e,g., N2 fixers, then BG11 without Nitrate will be effective as it will limit the growth of other non-N2 fixing cyanobacteria. If your aim is to grow and study all (most of the) cyanobacterial species then one particular medium may not be effective as 1) due to competition for nutrients (depends on the growth rate, preference for provided nutrients) some of the species will dominate suppressing other groups. In this case, you may consider multiple media (with differing media compositions).

The media composition for cyanobacteria is almost similar to that of phytoplankton, so, most of the phytoplankton media will work for cyanobacteria (though media ingredient concentration will differ). I have personally used BG-11, SN, A+, F/2 media for marine cyanobacteria. If your aim is to focus on smaller cyanobacteria, then to remove higher plankton and other organisms, pre-filter your sample using an appropriate filter (3um).

it is highly recommended to use the same water (from where you collected the sample) for making media instead of distilled water (you need to filter the water and sterilize the media to avoid contamination) for growing/isolating aquatic cyanobacteria (not recommended for N2 fixers). This will add other nutrients, which may not be present in the employed media.

Thank you Daniel Taylor sir for your kind suggestion.

Thank you Isabel madam for your input. I will look into that area for sure.

Thank you @Shailesh Nair sir for your words.

BG11 Medium is the best medium for culturing Cyanobacteria.

Rajendran Narayanasamy sir, thank you.

Maria Kalaitzidou

BG11 and ASM1 are good media for cyanobacteria growth.

Cheers,

Cihelio

BG11 and ASM1 are good media for cyanobacteria growth.

Cheers,

Cihelio

I use Z8 medium

(Staub 1961, Kotai 1972, NIVA 1976)

1. Stock solution I

NaNO346.7 gCa(NO3)2•4H2O5.9 gMgSO4•7H2O2.5 g

Dissolve chemicals (separately) in dH2O and dilute to 1 litre.

2. Stock solution II

K2HPO43.1 gNa2CO32.1 g

Dissolve chemicals (separately) in dH2O and dilute to 1 litre.

3. Stock solution III Fe-solution: 2.80 g FeCl3•6H2O dissolved in 100 mL 0.1 N HCl EDTA-solution: 3.90 g EDTA-Na2 dissolved in 100 mL 0.1 N NaOH 10 mL of the Fe-solution are dissolved in c. 900 mL dH2O. Then add 9.5 mL of the EDTA-solution, and fill up to one litre.

4. Stock solution IV

1.   Na2WO4•2H2O0.330 g/100 mL2.   (NH4)6Mo7O24•4H2O0.880 g/100 mL3.   KBr1.20 g/100 mL4.   KJ4. 0.83 g/100 mL5.   ZnSO4•7H2O2.87 g/100 mL6.   Cd(NO3)2•4H2O1.55 g/100 mL7.   Co(NO3)2•6H2O1.46 g/100 mL8.   CuSO4•5H2O1.25 g/100 mL9.   NiSO4(NH4)2SO4•6H2O1.98 g/100 mL10. Cr(NO3)3•9H2O0.410 g/100 mL11. V2O50.0890 g/1000 mL12. KAl(SO4)2•12H2O4.74 g/100 mL13. H3BO33.10 g      MnSO4•H2O1.60 g /1000 mL

Add 1 mL from solutions 1-10 & 12, and 10 mL from solution 11 & 100 mL from solution 13 to c. 700 mL dH2O. Dilute to 1 litre with dH2O.

5. Making up the final preparation Bubble 500 mL dH2O with CO2 gas for ½ hour. Add: 10 mL    solution I 10 mL    solution II 10 mL    solution III   1 mL    solution IV Dilute to 1 litre with dH2O. Autoclave. The medium should have a pH of 6-7.