Abstract
Chlorella, when heterotrophically cultivated in the dark in the presence of 33 mmol/L of Zn, starts to proliferate after a long lag phase of about one or two months. We found that under these conditions, Zn-Chl a is gradually accumulated during the stationary phase. (1) Whereas only a small amount of Chlide a was detected during long lag phase, Chls start to be synthesized as the cells start to grow. (2) Pheo a and a small amount of Chl b were first accumulated during the early log phase. (3) Zn-Chl a was gradually accumulated and finally reached to about 10% of Chl a in the late stationary phase. (4) Low-temperature fluorescence of Chl a shows that F685 was prominent in the early log phase, while F725 became prominent in the late stationary phase. (5) These results suggest that Zn-Chl a is incorporated and act as antenna in Chl-proteins.
