title: On the morphology and ultrastructure of the cell wall of Spirulina platensis.
abstract: The cell wall of the blue-green alga Spirulina platensis was studied with the electron microscope using ultra-thin sectioning, shadowing, carbon-replication or freeze-etching techniques for specimen preparation. The cell wall could be resolved into four layers, L-I through L-IV. The L-I and L-III layers contain fibrillar material. The septum is a three-layered wall: an L-II layer sandwiched between L-I layers. The shape in vitro of isolated septa might be an artifact due to the preparation technique used. Certain structural properties of the septum seem to allow tangential stretching; they might be reflected in the flexible gliding mobility of Spirulina species. The outer, L-IV layer contains material longitudinally arranged along the trichome axis.
mesh_terms: D002473:Cell Wall / Q000648:ultrastructure; D000458:Cyanobacteria / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D005613:Freeze Etching; D008854:Microscopy, Electron