Carbohydrates of the freshwater alga Tribonema aequale . II. Preliminary photosynthetic studies with 14 C

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Abstract
Tribonema aequale Pascher was cultured for 30 min and 2 h in Na2 14CO3. An aliquot of the 2 h material was grown for a further 45 h in culture medium devoid of 14C. The alga was sequentially extracted and the respective radioactivities of the extracts were measured. Evidence is presented that not only mannitol and glucose, but also the water-soluble glucose-containing polysaccharides, are active metabolites. The polysaccharides soluble in 4% aqueous alkali appear to be continuously synthesised and that soluble in 18% alkali is apparently incorporated into the insoluble non-extractable polysaccharide during growth.