METABOLIC ACTIVITIES OF ISOLATED SPORES OF ANABAENA CYLINDRICA

A method for the isolation of spores of Anabaena cylindrica is described, and results concerning the metabolic activities of isolated spores are presented. Isolated spores fixed carbon dioxide in the light at a lower rate and evolved carbon dioxide in the dark at a higher rate than the corresponding whole filaments. Nitrogen-fixing ability in isolated spores could be detected neither with the isotopic method nor with the new acetylene technique. Isolated spores were able to germinate at the same rate as spores within the original cell population when transferred into fresh culture medium. © 1962 Oxford University Press.