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Nostoc, also known as star jelly, troll's butter, spit of moon, fallen star, witch's butter (not to be confused with the fungi commonly known as witches' butter), and witch's jelly, is the most common genus of cyanobacteria found in a variety of both aquatic and terrestrial environments that may form colonies composed of filaments of moniliform cells in a gelatinous sheath of polysaccharides. [1]
The Nostocaceae are a family of cyanobacteria that forms filament-shaped colonies enclosed in mucus or a gelatinous sheath. Some genera in this family are found primarily in fresh water (such as Nostoc), while others are found primarily in salt water (such as Nodularia).
Nostoc commune. Nostoc commune is found in many countries around the world. It is able to survive in extreme conditions in polar regions and arid areas. It is a terrestrial or freshwater species and forms loose clumps on soil, gravel and paved surfaces, among mosses and between cobbles. [1]
Nostoc parmelioides is a species of cyanobacterium in the family Nostocaceae. It is notable for its symbiosis with a midge larva, Cricotopus nostocicola . [ 1 ]
Nostoc commune var. sphaeroides is an edible cyanobacterium [1] found in diverse habitats such as lakes and rivers. It is used as a food and nutritional supplement and has reputed pharmaceutical properties.
Their cell size varies from less than 1 μm in diameter (picocyanobacteria) up to 100 μm (some tropical forms in the genus Oscillatoria) [39] [40] [41] Filamentous forms exhibit functional cell differentiation such as heterocysts (for nitrogen fixation), akinetes (resting stage cells), and hormogonia (reproductive, motile filaments).
Heterocysts or heterocytes are specialized nitrogen-fixing cells formed during nitrogen starvation by some filamentous cyanobacteria, such as Nostoc, Cylindrospermum, and Anabaena. [1] They fix nitrogen from dinitrogen (N 2) in the air using the enzyme nitrogenase, in order to provide the cells in the filament with nitrogen for biosynthesis. [2]
Fat choy (traditional Chinese: 髮菜; simplified Chinese: 发菜; pinyin: fàcài; Jyutping: faat³ coi³; Nostoc flagelliforme) is a terrestrial cyanobacterium (a type of photosynthetic bacteria) that is used as a vegetable in Chinese cuisine.