Additionally, the authors sequenced the genome of this organism and identified homologs to genes conserved among filamentous cyanobacteria that have been demonstrated to be essential for motility in Nostoc punctiforme and may encode for the junctional pore proteins (hps locus) or a chemotaxis system (hmp locus).
A model is presented to describe how the rotation of the filament causes left-handed sliding for the portion of the filament not encased in a slime sheath, which leads to formation of counter-clockwise spirals, the predominant macroscopic feature of colonies noted.