PHOTOSYNTHESIS AND METABOLISM IN MARINE ALGAE: VII. PRODUCTS OF PHOTOSYNTHESIS IN FRONDS OF FUCUS VESICULOSUS AND THEIR USE IN RESPIRATION

Abstract

Samples of Fucus vesiculcsus fronds were permitted to assimilate 14CO2 for 5 h and were then maintained in alternating periods of light and darkness for 3 days. Samples were collected at intervals, and the radioactivity of various simple and complex compounds was measured. The major product of photosynthesis was mannitol; relatively small amounts of 14C entered other compounds. From its behavior, it appears that mannitol is the major substrate of respiration in these plants; there may be secondary substrates among the complex polysaccharides. The complex polysaccharides are not formed directly from mannitol in light, but from some common precursors, or else from a small isolated pool of mannitol which is separated from the main cellular supplies. In darkness, the complex polysaccharides appear to be derived from stored mannitol. One of the more active metabolites, judged from its behavior, is a component of the residue left after dilute acid and sodium carbonate extraction. This component undergoes turnover, i.e. breakdown and resynthesis from newly-acquired photosynthate in the light, and is formed from stored photosynthate in the darkness.