Unusual water flux in the extracellular polysaccharide of the cyanobacterium Nostoc commune

The speed of water uptake by desiccated Nostoc commune was found to depend upon the duration of desiccation. The rehydration of desiccated colonies led to marked, time-dependent changes in structure and ultrastructure and fluctuations in the composition of the transcriptome. Physical evaporative water loss is an active process that was influenced by inhibitors of transcription and translation.