Newly-fixed carbon preferentially flows through starch in the unicellular alga Rhodella
- Duke Univ., Beaufort, NC (USA)
Cells of the unicellular red alga Rhodella reticulata produce copious amounts of anionic extracellular polysaccharides. Previous experiments, comparing growing and non-growing cells, showed little difference in the pattern of initial {sup 14}C partitioning, with a high percentage of label in starch. Short labelling periods, followed by chasing in unlabelled medium, showed rapid movement of carbon through the starch pool within the first 6 hrs, with an accompanying increase in both the protein and mucilage fractions. The overall pattern of carbon metabolism appears fixed throughout growth of the cells, with total carbon input changing with changing growth phase. As starch is extrachloroplastic in the red algae, input of fixed carbon directly into the starch pool may serve as a routing mechanism to direct subsequent carbon metabolism within the cell.
- OSTI ID:
- 6642929
- Journal Information:
- Plant Physiology, Supplement; (USA), Vol. 89:4; ISSN 0079-2241
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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