Temporal orchestration of glycogen synthase (GlgA) gene expression and glycogen accumulation in the oceanic picoplanktonic cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. strain WH8103.

Glycogen is accumulated during the latter half of the diel cycle in Synechococcus sp. strain WH8103 following a midday maximum in glgA (encoding glycogen synthase) mRNA abundance. This temporal pattern is quite distinct from that of Prochlorococcus and may highlight divergent regulatory control of carbon/nitrogen metabolism in these closely related picocyanobacteria.