akhonamlitwa
Nostoc sphaeroides it’s a tiny but mighty microbe with some seriously cool abilities. This little cyanobacterium can survive in all sorts of environments, help fertilize the soil by fixing nitrogen, and might even have some hidden biotechnology superpowers waiting to be discovered. It’s like nature’s own eco-friendly multitasker.
This is a genus of blue-green algae (Cyanobacteria) and is commonly found in terrestrial and aqueous environments. Nostoc sphaeroides is a member of Nostocaceae family. N. sphaeroides can be spherical and have blue-green color. Nostoc possess an outer layer and extensive inner matrix of polysaccharides, giving them their "jelly-like" or gelatinous appearance, and also help to protect them from their unfavorable environments
Nostoc sphaeriodes are Gram-negative, photosynthetic cyanobacteria. It has a clustered cocci cells.
Nostoc sphaeroides can fix atmospheric nitrogen and may release the bound nitrogen. Desiccated N. sphaeroides can fully or partly recover metabolism upon rehydration. Nostoc sp are able to protect the machinery of nitrogen fixation from inactivation by producing specialized cells, called heterocysts, that rigorously exclude oxygen from within them. Nostoc is able to form colonies on the surface of bare minerals, it is able to provide a more stable environment for higher vegetation in its environment.
N. sphaeroides can be preferably used as dietary supplementsas they do not have known side effects. Polysaccharides of N. sphaeroides can be used as a source of natural anti-tumor drugs. The lipid extracts of N. sphaeroides can inhibit the maturation process of sterol regulatory element binding protein 1 and sterol regulatory element binding protein 2, which greatly slows down the expression of cholesterol and fatty acid metabolism-related genes.
Because of human foot traffic, and contaminated gardening tools and irrigation systems, Nostoc is usually found outside of its natural habitat in plant nurseries and greenhouses. A number of different control methods can be effective in removing unwanted Nostoc from these environments, including implementing increased drainage in these facilities, physical removal of Nostoc, and flame weeders or solarization
