filaments

Description:

Tolypothrix (toll-eep-o-thricks) is a filamentous blue-green alga (cyanobacterium) which expresses false branching, i.e., the cells divide in one plane only, but a heterocyst may cause cells to break free and form an apparent branch. Heterocysts are differentiated thick-walled cells that provide the site for nitrogen fixation. This image shows a tangle of filaments. Differential interference microscopy.

data on this strain.