DE- AND RE-GENERATION OF CHLOROPLASTS IN THE CELLS OF CHLORELLA PROTOTHECOIDES: III. EFFECTS OF MITOMYCIN C ON THE PROCESSES OF GREENING AND DIVISION OF “GLUCOSE-BLEACHED” ALGAL CELLS

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Abstract
The “glucose-bleached” cells of Chlorella protothecoides, whose plastids were profoundly degenerated containing no trace of chlorophyll, were obtained by the method previously reported. Transferring the cells to the condition of re-generation of chloroplasts (greening)—incubation in the light in a glucose-less and nitrogen-rich medium—the effect of mitomycin C on the recovery process was investigated. It was found that the antibiotic suppressed completely the cell division without affecting the re-generation of chloroplasts. De novo formation of RNA and protein which has been observed to occur during the recovery process was not affected by the antibiotic to any significant extent. It thus became clear that the re-generation of chloroplasts, accompanied by the formation of chlorophyll, RNA and protein, occurring under the said condition is not a phenomenon caused by the formation of new “normal” cells from previously degenerated cells. As was expected, the antibiotic suppressed strongly the DNA synthesis, indicating that the new formation of DNA is not a necessary condition for the re-generation of chloroplasts in “glucose-bleached” algal cells.

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