The filamentous Section V cyanobacterium Mastigocladus laminosus is one of the most morphologically complex prokaryotes. It exhibits cellular division in multiple planes, resulting in the formation of true branches, and ...

Motility in cyanobacteria is useful for purposes that range from seeking out favourable light environments to establishing symbioses with plants and fungi. No known cyanobacterium is equipped with flagella, but a diverse ...

Bacterial phototaxis was first recognized over a century ago, but the method by which such small cells can sense the direction of illumination has remained puzzling. The unicellular cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC ...

In cyanobacteria and chloroplasts, exposure to HL damages the photosynthetic apparatus, especially the D1 subunit of Photosystem II. To avoid chronic photoinhibition, a PSII repair cycle operates to replace damaged PSII ...

Even in clonal bacterial cultures, individual bacteria can show substantial stochastic variation, leading to pitfalls in the interpretation of data derived from millions of cells in a culture. In this issue of the Journal ...

Filamentous heterocyst-forming cyanobacteria are a beautiful example of prokaryotic multicellularity. The filaments can achieve simultaneous nitrogen fixation and oxygenic photosynthesis by cooperation between two cell ...

In the filamentous cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120, heterocysts are formed in the absence of combined nitrogen, following a specific distribution pattern along the filament. The PatS and HetN factors contribute ...

Fluidity is essential for many biological membrane functions. The basis for understanding membrane structure remains the classic Singer-Nicolson model, in which proteins are embedded within a fluid lipid bilayer and able ...

The bacterial RNA-binding protein Hfq functions in post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. There is evidence in a range of bacteria for specific subcellular localization of Hfq; however, the mechanism and role ...