Cytochemical Changes in Aging Ochromonas; Evidence for an Alkaline Phosphatase

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Abstract
SYNOPSIS. Changes accompanying aging in light‐grown stationary cultures of Ochromonas danica were examined cytochemically. Succinate dehydrogenase activity increased during the log phase and decreased steadily during stationary and later phases. Acid phosphatase, alkaline phosphatase and lipase activities increased during the several phases of growth, as did accumulation of lipid. These results imply loss of mitochondrial activity and a gain in lysosomal activity with aging of the cell population. Alkaline phosphatase, widely distributed in animals and believed absent from most photosynthetic organisms and bacteria, is here reported in the photosynthetic genus Ochromonas.