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Electron-opaque microscopic fibrils in lakes: Their demonstration, their biological derivation and their potential significance in the redistribution of cations

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Summary

In lakes, the non-living particulate and the colloidal organic component are usually much greater in mass than the living component. Electron microscopy reveals that electron-opaque, non-rigid fibrils of approximately 3 to 10 nm diameter are found abundantly on the surfaces of common lake algae and microbes, free in the water column and free on the surface of the lake bottom. Filtration experiments and some microscopical evidence indicate that these fibrils are readily lost by cells without concomitant cell damage. Individual fibrils may form complex meshlike aggregates which can break apart and reassociate. Meshlike aggregates also appear to adhere to cells and large suspended particles. The behaviour and contact relations of the fibrils and their aggregates suggest a role in contact cation exchange. This suggested role is bolstered by a composition of 20 to 30 percent uronic acid residues for washed samples from lake water. Water from axenic algal cultures and from lakes can be processed by a combination of filtration and centrifugation techniques to yield quantities of purified fibril preparations permitting chemical analyses. Initial analyses show some of their physical characteristics to be appropriate to the principal component of an hypothetical, organic, carrier system for the redistribution of bound but biologically available cations in lakes.

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  1. G. G. Leppard

    Present address: Process Research Division, Canada Centre for Inland Waters, Fisheries and Environment Canada, Burlington, Ontario, Canada

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  1. Process Research Division, Canada Centre for Inland Waters, Fisheries and Environment Canada, Burlington, Ontario, Canada

    A. Massalski & D. R. S. Lean

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Leppard, G.G., Massalski, A. & Lean, D.R.S. Electron-opaque microscopic fibrils in lakes: Their demonstration, their biological derivation and their potential significance in the redistribution of cations. Protoplasma 92, 289–309 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01279466

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