Induction by Ultraviolet Irradiation of Mutation in the Blue–Green Alga Nostoc linckia (Roth) Born. et Flah.

Abstract

SEVERAL authors^1–3 have induced mutations in blue–green algae by ultraviolet irradiation, but the mutation reported here seems particularly significant because it obscures the criteria for delimitation of taxa in the Cyanophyceae⁴. True branching is a distinctive feature of the algae comprising the order Stigonematales⁴ and is absent in Nostocales, although algae of the family Scytonemataceae of the latter order show false branching. This is the first report of a mutation induced by ultraviolet irradiation leading to true branching in the typically unbranched genus Nostoc of the order Nostocales.