Open AccessThe ultrastructure of immobilised desiccated cells of the cyanobacterium Nostoc commune UTEX 584
Author(s) -
Peat Alan,
Potts Malcolm
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
fems microbiology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1574-6968
pISSN - 0378-1097
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-6968.1987.tb02127.x
Subject(s) - ultrastructure , desiccation , botany , fixation (population genetics) , chemistry , anhydrous , biology , biochemistry , organic chemistry , gene
Cells of the cyanobacterium Nostoc commune UTEX 584 were immobilised, subjected to acute matric water stress ( ψ m =−128 MPa) and then desiccated. Their ultrastructure was investigated by the use of an anhydrous fixation procedure. Although shrunken and bleached, the integrity of the vegatative cells at the ultrastructural level was apparently preserved. The ease with which certain cyanobacterial cells can recover from desiccation may be consequent upon the maintenance of cellular organisation at the ultrastructural level.