A comparative study of fine structure cyanobacterial gas vesicles.
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 1999 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Algological Studies |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Field | Microbiology, virology |
| Description | After freeze-fracturing/etching of specimens and unidirectional or rotational metal-shadowing of their fracture plane replicas, electron micrographs of gas vesicles of 11 strains (8 planktic species) of Cyanobacteria were taken. Micrographs were subsequently digitized and the periodicity of gas vesicle membrane striation was analyzed using FOURIER transform. In parallel with it, number of transversely fractured gas vesicles on 0.1 ľm2 of cross-fracture plane was counted. Different striation (rib) periodicity of gas vesicle membranes of different species (and of different strains of the same species) was established, ranging from 3.9 to 4.4 nm. Striation periodicity of gas vesicle membrane (though limited in range) appears independent of the number of gas vesicles per 0.1 ľm2 of cross-fracture plane and both parameters can be used for a closer characterization of gas vesicles. These results imply that the structure of gas vesicle membrane is neither species nor genus or family specific and that different cyanobacterial cells operate with different alleles of the genes for the gas-vesicle proteins. |