PHOTOSYNTHESIS IN ALGAE: III DISTRIBUTION OF SOLUBLE CARBOHYDRATES AND DIMETHYL-β-PROPIOTHETIN IN MARINE UNICELLULAR CHLOROPHYCEAE AND PRASINOPHYCEAE

Abstract

The 80% alcohol-soluble carbohydrates accumulated by 23 species of green marine phyto-plankton were examined after 2-21/2 hr of photosynthesis in NaH14CO3. The presence of dimethyl-[beta] -propiothetin (DMPT) and H2S was also noted. The major radioactive products in the Chlorophyceae were sucrose (five isolates), glycerol (three isolates), and mannitol (two isolates). Mannitol and sucrose were never found in the same extract, although glycerol and sucrose were found together in two organisms. DMPT occurred in Chlorococcum sp., and H2S appeared only in one Chlamydomonas sp. All 13 organisms assigned to the Prasinophyceae produced 14C-mannitol, and all except Pyramimonas sp. contained DMPT. H2S was observed in one strain of Tetraselmis sp. Sucrose and glycerol were not found in this class.