Vitamin Uptake by the Green Alga Dunaliella acidophila

Jose Santos  Carandang VI,; Hartmut  Gimmler,

Vitamin Uptake by the Green Alga Dunaliella acidophila

Jose Santos Carandang VI | Hartmut Gimmler

Discipline: Biology

Abstract:

The question arose whether Dunaliella acidophila is not strictly autotrophic but rather is auxotrophic. A still unknown partner microorganism could be supplying it with growth factors (e.g. vitamins). Using ¹⁴C-labelled vitamins as tracers, it was tested whether this alga can take-up vitamins when introduced in the medium. Data gathered suggest the presence of uptake mechanisms for biotin, folic acid and pantothenic acid. The calculated K_M values are in the micromolar concentrations. The permeability coefficient (P_s) of the D. acidophila plasmalemma for the vitamins tested ranged from 1.5 - 5.7 x 10^-¹¹ ms^-1.