S-Layer in Cyanobacteria

The first clear indication of a periodic structure of the cell wall surface layer in a Cyanobacterium was achieved by Schiewer and Jonas (1977) in transverse ultrathin sections of cells of a strain of Synechocystis aquatilis. Since then, eight reports have presented more detailed findings of S-layers in five different genera of Cyanobacteria. In our studies, we have so far investigated 15 species of 8 cyanobacterial genera. We applied the freeze-fracturing preparation techniques.