Abstract
Dunaliella parva, a green halophilic alga, was found to accumulate very large amounts of intracellular glycerol. Through measurements of the intracellular volume the internal concentration of glycerol was calculated and found to be around 2.1 m in cells cultured in 1.5 m NaCl. When the extracellular salt concentration of an algal suspension was increased or decreased, the intracellular glycerol varied accordingly, reaching its new osmotic equilibrium after about 90 minutes. Since no leakage of intracellular glycerol was observed above 0.6 m NaCl, these alterations in glycerol content are interpreted as due to metabolic formation and degradation of intracellular glycerol. The above results indicate the existence of a new type of algal osmoregulation, in which the osmotic balance depends on the synthesis or degradation of intracellular glycerol in response to the external salt concentration.
Full text
PDF
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Ben-Amotz A., Avron M. Photosynthetic Activities of the Halophilic Alga Dunaliella parva. Plant Physiol. 1972 Feb;49(2):240–243. doi: 10.1104/pp.49.2.240. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Biggins J. Preparation of Metabolically Active Protoplasts and Particle Preparations from the Blue-Green Alga, Phormidium luridum. Plant Physiol. 1967 Oct;42(10):1442–1446. doi: 10.1104/pp.42.10.1442. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Ginzburg M. The unusual membrane permeability of two halophilic unicellular organisms. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1969 Apr;173(3):370–376. doi: 10.1016/0005-2736(69)90002-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Johnson M. K., Johnson E. J., MacElroy R. D., Speer H. L., Bruff B. S. Effects of salts on the halophilic alga Dunaliella viridis. J Bacteriol. 1968 Apr;95(4):1461–1468. doi: 10.1128/jb.95.4.1461-1468.1968. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- OKAMOTO H., SUZUKI Y. INTRACELLULAR CONCENTRATION OF IONS IN A HALOPHILIC STRAIN OF CHLAMYDOMONAS. I. CONCENTRATION OF NA, K AND CL IN THE CELL. Z Allg Mikrobiol. 1964;4:350–357. doi: 10.1002/jobm.3630040503. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Rottenberg H., Grunwald T., Avron M. Direct determination of DeltapH in chloroplasts, and its relation to the mechanisms of photoinduced reactions. FEBS Lett. 1971 Feb 12;13(1):41–44. doi: 10.1016/0014-5793(71)80659-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Schoenborn B. P. Binding of cyclopropane to sperm whale myoglobin. Nature. 1967 Jun 10;214(5093):1120–1122. doi: 10.1038/2141120a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Wegmann K. Osmotic regulation of photosynthetic glycerol production in Dunaliella. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1971 Jun 15;234(3):317–323. doi: 10.1016/0005-2728(71)90197-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]