Speculations on a possible essential function of the gelatinous sheath of blue-green algae

Voluminous and often fluffy sheaths surrounding blue-green algal cells are observed (a) in productive natural waters, (b) in bacteria-containing laboratory cultures growing in inorganic nutrient media with added bacteria-assimilable organic matter, and (c) in axenic cultures in the same inorganic media even without added organic matter. The sheaths of bacteria-associated species in inorganic media without added organic matter are, by comparison, thin, and growth is meager. Repeated observations show that voluminous sheaths and vigorous growth of algal species are associated. It is suggested that formation and retention of a voluminous shealth provide a microenvironment around the algal cell where essential nutrients, present at only submarginal levels in the surrounding water, are concentrated and become readily available to the cell. The increase in nutrient concentration above a critical level, in turn, leads to vigorous algal growth. The voluminous sheath produced by the alga is not attacked by alga-associated bacteria when other assimilable organic matter is available; but in the absence of a more suitalble food, the bacteria feed on the less desirable gelatinous sheath, markedly reducing its thickness and causing meager algal growth.