Nostoc Information

Nostoc Information <b>Scientific name</b> - Kingdom- Monera, Phylum- Cyanobacteria, Class- NA, Order- nostocaler, Family- Nostocaceae, Genus- Nostoc, Species- caeruleum <b>Description</b>- Nostoc is a one celled autotrophic organism that performs photosynthesis with out chloroplasts. Instead it uses photosynthetic pigments located on folded membranes in their cytoplasm. The Nostoc is given its bluish color from a blue pigment called phycocyanin and its green color from the chlorophyll is surrounded by a membrane …

…by binary fission. They divide every 15 to 20 minutes. <b>Importance</b> - Nostoc is important to farmers because the Nostoc in riches the soil with nitrogen. They do this by capturing nitrogen out of the air, through a process of called nitrogen fixation. The nitrogen is used by plants so the Nostoc act like artificial fertilizer, but not as hurtful or costly. <b>Bibliography</b> - Stanier, Roger, The Microbial World New Jersey: Englewood Cliffs, 1963.