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Nostoc (noss-tock) a filamentous blue green alga, in which the filaments are enclosed within a mucus sheath to form balls which range from a hundred microns or so up to many millimeters in size. At least at times these organisms make up the greatest biomass in the water column. Phase contrast.
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These ball shaped colonies measure up to about 1 millemetre in size. The bacteria secrete a gelatinous material that binds the cells together. Bright field optics.
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Ball shaped colony of Nostoc, with diatoms and other algae incorporated within it. Dark ground illumination.
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Detail of margin of a large (half millimetre) gelatinous colony. Filaments with occasional heterocysts. Differential interference microscopy.
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Portrait of the cyanophyte, Aphanizomenon flosaquae. Collected from freshwater pond near Boise, Idaho. Brightfield optics.
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Trichodesmium (try-koe-des-me-um) is a filamentous cyanobacterium (blue-green alga). It may form blooms or rafts. A significant contributor to nitrogen fixation in the oceans. Differential interference microscopy.
data on this strain.
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Trichodesmium (trike-owe-des-me-um) bundle. This is a filamentous blue green alga, which can occur in abundances which discolour the water. Not known to produce toxins, but abundances may be high enough to disturb the supply of oxygen to other organisms. This is a dense cluster of filaments. Dark ground image by Dave Caron.
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Anabaena (a-na-bean-a) is a filamentous cyanobacterium, the slightly larger cells are heterocysts, and are associated with nitrogen fixation. Nitrogen fixing cyanobacteria are important for nitrogen generation in rice paddy fields. Differential interference contrast.
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Anabaena (ann-a-bean-ah) (tentative identification) filaments with heterocysts and cells of variable size. Differential interference contrast.
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Anabaena (ann-a-bean-a) one of the filamentous blue green alga which can form heterocysts. Single filaments are attached to the substrate and occur within an irregular mucus sheath which acquires metal salts to become brown in colour. Heterocysts are spherical, more hyaline, slightly larger than other cells and are a site for enhanced nitrogen fixation. Phase contrast.
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Anabaena (ann-a-bean-a) one of the filamentous blue green alga which can form heterocysts. Single filaments are attached to the substrate and occur within an irregular mucus sheath which acquires metal salts to become brown in colour. Heterocysts are spherical, more hyaline, slightly larger than other cells and are a site for enhanced nitrogen fixation. Differential interference contrast.
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Anabaena (ann-a-bean-a) one of the filamentous blue green alga which can form heterocysts. Single filaments are attached to the substrate and occur within an irregular mucus sheath which acquires metal salts to become brown in colour. The sheath is emphasized in this image. Heterocysts are spherical, more hyaline, slightly larger than other cells and are a site for enhanced nitrogen fixation. Phase contrast.
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Anabaena (ann-a-bean-a) a filamentous blue green algae, with differentiated cells within the filament or trichome. Differential interference microscopy.
data on this strain.
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Anabaena (ann-a-bean-a) a filamentous blue green algae, with differentiated cells within the filament. The central cell is a heterocyst, the site of nitrogen fixation. Differential interference microscopy.
data on this strain.
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Anabaena (ann-a-bean-a) filamentous blue-green alga (cyanobacterium), some cells are different to others. They are referred to as heterocysts, and seem to be specialised to carry out nitrogen fixation. Differential interference contrast.
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Anabaena. Cell observed in freshwater sediments in the vicinity of Broome, Western Australia in September 2003. This image was taken using differential interference contrast optics. This work was supported by the Australian Biological Resources Study.
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A gliding filamernt of Anabaena, a couple of heterocysts are visible within the filament.
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Filaments of Anabaena. The species may form heterocysts (thick walled cell, lower filament last complete cell on the right) and also resistant cells such as the long cylindrical cell. Phase contrast microscopy.
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Several filaments of a blue green alga that does not form heterocysts. This image taken after most of the water had dried out and illustrates how microbes may survive in very very thin films of water (in this case only a few microns thick). Differential intereference contrast optics.
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Cylindrospermopsis (sill-in-dro-sperm-op-sis) raciborskii, a blue green alga (cyanobacterium) in which the terminal cells of the trichomes or filaments appear a bit like candle flames. With no membrane bound organelles but sometimes with refractile deposits. Differential interference microscopy.
data on this strain.
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Cylindrospermopsis (sill-in-dro-sperm-op-sis) raciborskii, a blue green alga (cyanobacterium) in which the terminal cells of the trichomes or filaments appear a bit like candle flames. With no membrane bound organelles but sometimes with refractile deposits. Phase contrast microscopy.
data on this strain.
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Cylindrospermopsis (sill-in-dro-sperm-op-sis) raciborskii, a blue green alga (cyanobacterium) in which the terminal cell of the trichome (filament) appears a bit like a candle flame. Phase contrast microscopy. "
data on this strain.
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Spirulina (spirr-you-line-a) a spiral bacterium, motile, moves by cork-screw motion. A blue-green alga. If the cells are irradiated with ultraviolet light, the pigment absorbs some radiant energy and re-emits at with lower energy - with the colour shifted to the red end of the spectrum. Fluorescence microscopy removes the irradiating ultraviolet light, leaving the red colour of the fluorescing pigments. Fluorescence microscopy.
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Spirulina (spirr-you-line-a) a spiral bacterium, motile, moves by cork-screw motion. Very light pigmentation. Phase contrast.