DARK FIXATION OF C14-BICARBONATE BY MARINE ALGAE

Abstract

The ability of several multicellular marine algae to remove NaHC14O3 from seawater in darkness has been compared. Members of the Phaeophyta removed approximately four to eight times more isotope than did members of the Rhodophyta and Chlorophyta examined. After 2 minutes of dark fixation, aspartic and glutamic acids were the main compounds identified in both Fucus vesiculosus and Polysiphonia lanosa. Radioactivity appeared largely in citric plus isocitric acids in Fucus, whereas radioactive organic acids were not detected in Polysiphonia even after 30 minutes. Fractionation of F. vesiculosus after 2 hours of dark fixation showed that 95% of the total radioactivity recovered occurred in the fraction soluble in 70% acetone.Twenty-four hours of darkness immediately prior to a 2-hour dark fixation period reduced the total radioactivity incorporated to almost one-half of the control values. Either artificial seawater (one-fifth natural salinity) or a medium in which NaCl was substituted by KCl had little effect on the total radioactivity fixed during darkness. The distribution of isotope, however, showed some alterations.