A new method for isolating gas vesicles from Microcystis for ultrasound contrast

Abstract:

Gas vesicles are a unique class of gas-filled protein nanostructures which are commonly found in cyanobacteria and Halobacterium.The gas vesicles may scatter sound waves and generate harmonic signals,which enabled them to have the potential to become a novel ultrasound contrast agent.However,the current hypertonic cracking method for isolating gas vesicles contains tedious operational procedures and is of low yield,thus not suitable for large-scale application.To overcome these technical challenges,we developed a rapid and efficient method for isolating gas vesicles from Microcystis. The new H₂O₂-based method increased the yield by three times and shortened the operation time from 24 hours to 7 hours.The H₂O₂method is not only suitable for isolation of gas vesicles from laboratory-cultured Microcystis,but also suitable for colonial Microcystis covered with gelatinous sheath. The gas vesicles isolated by H₂O₂ method showed good performance in ultrasound contrast imaging.In conclusion,this new method shows great potential for large-scale application due to its high efficiency and wide adaptability,and provides technical support for developing gas vesicles into a biosynthetic ultrasonic contrast agent.