Abstract
The cyanobacterial species “Microcoleus chthonoplastes” is defined by the presence of many typically oscillatorian filaments with tapered, conically shaped terminal cells within a common sheath both in the botanical (Geitler 1932) and, more recently in the bacteriological literature (Castenholz 1988). The significant and often dominant ecological role of Microcoleus species in the formation and stabilization of intertidal and hypersaline microbial mat systems around the world is well recognized. However, it is not known if geographically disjunct populations referred to as “Microcoleus chthonoplastes” on the basis of gross morphological traits alone constitute a close genetic unit, or are in fact examples of evolutionary convergence driven by the adaptive advantages of a “microcoleus-like” morphology in benthic marine environments. What adaptive advantages this morphology may confer has been difficult to ascertain since these features, most notably the defining features of bundle formation, and presence of conically-shaped terminal cells, are not observed in currently available cultures.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Amesz J, Duysens LN, Brandt M (1961) Methods for measuring and correcting the absorption spectrum of scattering suspensions. J Theoret Biol 1: 59–74
Bryant DA (1982) Phycoerythrin and phycocyanin: properties and occurrence in cyanobacteria. J Gen Microbiol 128: 835–844
Castenholz RW, Waterbury JB (1988) Oxygenic photosynthetic bacteria. In: Bergey’s Manual of Systematic Bacteriology. Vol 3, Williams and Wilkins, Baltimore Maryland, pp 1710–1799
D’Amelio ED, Cohen Y, Des Marais D (1989) Comparative Functional Ultrastructure of two hypersaline submerged cyanobacterial mats: Guerrero Negro, Baja California Sur, Mexico, and Solar Lake, Sinai, Egypt. In: Cohen Y, Rosenberg E (eds) Microbial mats: Physiological Ecology of Benthic Microbial Communities. Am Soc Microbiol, Washington, pp 97–113
Garcia-Pichel F, Castenholz RW (1993) Occurrence of UV-absorbing, mycosporine-like compounds among cyanobacterial isolates and an estimate of their screening capacity. Appl Environ Microbiol 59: 163–169
Geitler L (1932) Cyanophyceae. In: Kolkwitz (ed), Kryptogamenflora von Deutschland, Osterreich und der Schweiz. Akadamische Verlagsgesellschaft, Leipzig, 14: 1–1196
Guillard RRL, Ryther JH (1962) Studies of marine planktonic diatoms. I. Cyclotella nana Hustedt and Detonella confervacea (Cleve) Gran. Can J Microbiol 8: 229–239
Muyzer G, De Waal EC, Uitterlinden AG (1993) Profiling of complex microbial populations by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis analysis of polymerase chain reaction-amplified genes coding for 16S rRNA. Appl Environ Microbiol 59: 695–700
Rippka R, Deruelles J, Waterbury JB, Herdman M, Stanier RY (1979) Generic Assignments, strain histories and properties of pure cultures of cyanobacteria. J Gen Microbiol 111: 1–61
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1994 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Prufert-Bebout, L., Garcia-Pichel, F. (1994). Field and cultivated Microcoleus chthonoplastes: The search for clues to its prevalence in marine microbial mats. In: Stal, L.J., Caumette, P. (eds) Microbial Mats. NATO ASI Series, vol 35. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-78991-5_12
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-78991-5_12
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-78993-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-78991-5
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive