ELECTRON MICROSCOPY OF POLYPHOSPHATE BODIES IN A BLUE-GREEN ALGA NOSTOC PRUNIFORME

Preparations of the blue-green alga, Nostoc pruniforme, treated according to the lead-sulfide staining technique of Ebelet al. (1958b) were examined by light and electron microscopy. They were found to contain spherical, electron-dense bodies, generally in close association with the nucleoplasm and polyhedral bodies, and sometimes enclosed by a membrane. In preparations extracted with cold TCA prior to the application of the staining procedure, such electron-dense structures could no longer be found; electron microscopy revealed instead spherical, electron-transparent areas with an electron-dense periphery in positions generally occupied by the electron-dense bodies in preparations not extracted with TCA. © 1968 Springer-Verlag.