Composition of the sheath produced by the green alga Chlorella sorokiniana.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the chemical characterization of the mucilage sheath produced by Chlorella sorokiniana.


RESULTS
Algal mucilage sheath was hydrolysed with NaOH, containing EDTA. The purity of the hydrolysed sheath was determined by an ATP assay. The composition of polysaccharide in the sheath was investigated by high-performance anion-exchange chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection. Sucrose, galacturonic acid, xylitol, inositol, ribose, mannose, arabinose, galactose, rhamnose and fructose were detected in the sheath as sugar components. Magnesium was detected in the sheath as a divalent cation using inductively coupled argon plasma. The sheath matrix also contained protein.


CONCLUSIONS
It appears that the sheath is composed of sugars and metals. Mucilage sheath contains many kinds of saccharides that are produced as photosynthetic metabolites and divalent cations that are contained in the culture medium.


CONCLUSIONS
This is the first report on chemical characterization of the sheath matrix produced by C. sorokiniana.
Watanabe
K
K
Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
Imase
M
M
Sasaki
K
K
Ohmura
N
N
Saiki
H
H
Tanaka
H
H
D020418:Algal Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D002241:Carbohydrates / Q000032:analysis; D002708:Chlorella / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D008274:Magnesium / Q000032:analysis; D011134:Polysaccharides / Q000737:chemistry*
D020418:Algal Proteins; D002241:Carbohydrates; D011134:Polysaccharides; D008274:Magnesium