Nostoc

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Nostoc

Nostoc is a genus of fresh water cyanobacteria

Cyanobacteria

Cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae, blue-green bacteria or Cyanophyta, is a phylum of bacteria that obtain their energy through photosynthesis....
that forms spherical colonies

Colony (biology)

In biology, a colony refers to several individual organisms of the same species living closely together, usually for mutual benefit, such as stronger defences or the ability to attack bigger prey....
composed of filament

Filament

Filament may refer to:...
s of moniliform cells in a gelatinous sheath. When on the ground, a Nostoc colony is ordinarily not seen; but after a rain it swells up into a conspicuous jellylike mass, which was once thought to have fallen from the sky, whence the popular names, fallen star and star jelly
Star jelly

Star jelly or pwdre s?r is an alleged compound purportedly deposited on the earth during meteor shower. It is described as a foul-smelling, gelatinous substance, which tends to evaporate shortly after having fallen....
. It is also called witches' butter (not to be confused with the fungus Tremella mesenterica
Tremella mesenterica

Tremella mesenterica is a jelly fungus that is commonly found on rotting wood, especially Common Gorse, as a parasite of crust fungi of the genus Peniophora....
).

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Encyclopedia

Nostoc is a genus of fresh water cyanobacteria

Cyanobacteria

Colony (biology)

Filament

Welsh language

Welsh ]], is a member of the Brythonic branch of Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, in England by some along the Welsh Marches and in the Welsh settlement in Argentina in the Chubut Valley in Argentina Patagonia....
as pwdre sêr, or rot of the stars.

Nostoc can be found on moist rocks, at the bottom of lakes and springs, and rarely in marine habitats. It may also grow symbiotically

Symbiosis

The term symbiosis commonly describes close and often long-term interactions between different biological species. The term was first used in 1879 by the Germany mycology Heinrich Anton de Bary, who defined it as "the living together of unlike organisms"....
within the tissues of plant

Plant

Plants are Life organisms belonging to the Kingdom Plantae. They include familiar organisms such as trees, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae....
s, such as the aquatic fern

Fern

A fern is any one of a group of about 20,000 species of plants classified in the phylum or division Pteridophyta, also known as Filicophyta....
Azolla (mosquito fern

Mosquito fern

Azolla is a genus of seven species of aquatic plant ferns, the only genus in the family Azollaceae. They are extremely reduced in form and specialized, looking nothing like conventional ferns but more resembling duckweed or some mosses....
) or hornwort

Hornwort

Hornworts are a group of bryophytes, or non-vascular plants, comprising the division Anthocerotophyta. The common name refers to the elongated horn-like structure, which is the sporophyte....
s, providing nitrogen

Nitrogen

Nitrogen is a chemical element that has the symbol N and atomic number 7 and atomic mass 14.00674?. Elemental nitrogen is a colorless, odorless, tasteless and mostly inert diatomic gas at standard conditions, constituting 78% by volume of Earth's atmosphere....
to its host. These bacteria contain photosynthetic pigments in their cytoplasm to perform photosynthesis

Photosynthesis

File:Seawifs global biosphere.jpgPhotosynthesis is a metabolic pathway that converts carbon dioxide into organic compounds, especially sugars, using the energy from sunlight....
.

Species

Nostoc is a member of the family Nostocaceae

Nostocaceae

The Nostocaceae is a family of cyanobacteria that forms filament-shaped colony enclosed in mucus or a gelatinous sheath. Some genus in this family are found primarily in fresh water , while others are found primarily in salt water ....
of the order Hormogonales

Hormogonales

The term Hormogonales is no longer in use. It once indicated an order inside the class Cyanobacteria comprising the former suborders "Nostocales", "Scytonematales" and Stigonematales....
. Species include:

N. azollae
N. caeruleum
N. carneum
N. comminutum
N. commune
N. ellipsosporum
N. flagelliforme
Fat choy

Fat choy , also known as faat choy, black moss, hair moss or hair weed is a terrestrial Cyanobacteria that is used as a vegetable in Chinese cuisine....
N. linckia
N. longstaffi
N. microscopicum
N. muscorum
N. paludosum
N. pruniforme
Nostoc pruniforme

Mare's eggs are a species of cyanobacteria. This bacteria grows underwater in colony which take the form of dark greenish-gray, gelatinous spheres....
N. punctiforme
N. sphaericum
N. sphaeroides
N. spongiaeforme
N. verrucosum
Nostoc verrucosum

Nostoc verrucosum is a species of cyanobacteria usually found in colonies and in globose racks. It has a greenish to blackish color. It grows in creek beds, shallow streams, waterfalls, and moist understory in rain forests, in alkaline soil and water habitat....

Culinary use

Containing protein and vitamin C

Vitamin C

Vitamin C or ascorbic acid is an essential nutrient for humans, a large number of simian species, a small number of other mammalian species , a few species of birds, and some fish....
, Nostoc species are cultivated and consumed as a foodstuff, primarily in Asia. The N. flagelliforme
Fat choy

Fat choy , also known as faat choy, black moss, hair moss or hair weed is a terrestrial Cyanobacteria that is used as a vegetable in Chinese cuisine....
and N. commune varieties are consumed in China

China

China is a Culture of China, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south....
and Java, N. commune is also consumed in the Andes

Andes

The Andes form the world's longest exposed mountain range. They lie as a continuous chain of highland along the western coast of South America. The range is over 7,000 km long, 200-700 km wide , and of an average height of about 4,000 m ....
. The preferred variety in Central Asia

Central Asia

Central Asia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east, and from southern Russia in the north to northern India in the south....
is N. ellipsosporum.

A research team from the biochemistry

Biochemistry

Biochemistry is the study of the chemistry processes in living organisms. It deals with the structure and function of cellular components such as proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids and other biomolecules....
department of the Chinese University of Hong Kong

Chinese University of Hong Kong

The Chinese University of Hong Kong, commonly referred to as CUHK, is the second oldest university in Hong Kong; it is campus-based and also the only collegiate university in the territory....
said that international research has shown that fat choy (Nostoc flagelliforme), besides having no nutritional value, has also been found to contain Beta-methylamino L-alanine

Beta-methylamino L-alanine

?-Methylamino-L-alanine, or BMAA, is a neurotoxin found in the seeds of the cycad. This non-proteinogenic amino acid is produced by cyanobacteria of the genus Nostoc that live on the plant's roots....
(BMAA), a toxic amino acid

Amino acid

In chemistry, an amino acid is a molecule containing both amine and carboxyl functional groups. These molecules are particularly important in biochemistry, where this term refers to alpha-amino acids with the general formula H2NCHRCOOH, where R is an organic substituent....
that could affect the normal functions of nerve cells. Professor Chan King-ming of the team told the media that eating fat choy could lead to degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's

Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease , also called Alzheimer disease, Senile Dementia of the Alzheimer Type or simply Alzheimer's, is the most common form of dementia....
, Parkinson's

Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that often impairs the sufferer's motor skills and speech, as well as other functions....
, and dementia

Dementia

Dementia is the progressive decline in cognition due to damage or disease in the body beyond what might be expected from normal aging. Although dementia is far more common in the geriatric population, it may occur in any stage of adulthood....
.

Nostoc

Species

Culinary use

External links