Abstract
The Nostoc cyanobiont of the lichen Peltigera canina when grown on N2 possesses, in the motile stage, discrete unbranched non-flagellar appendages (fimbriae or pili). These arise from the host cell surface in a peritrichous manner, have an axial hole, are 7.0 ±0.3 nm in diameter and are up to 3 μm long. They do not haemagglutinate guinea pig red blood corpuscles and differ from the major fimbrial types reported for Gram-negative heterotrophic bacteria and from sex pili. They may be involved in motility and specificity in symbiotic cyanobacteria.
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Dick, H., Stewart, W.D.P. The occurrence of fimbriae on a N 22 -fixing cyanobacterium which occurs in lichen symbiosis. Arch. Microbiol. 124, 107–109 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00407037
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00407037