Summary
The ultrastructure of the unicellular green algaChlorella fusca, grown in the absence and presence of vanadium (4 · 10−7 M as NH4VO3) and under iron deficiency, is investigated by electron microscopy. Iron and vanadium deficiencies are characterized by an accumulation of intracellular starch, the observation being confirmed by chemical analysis of the amount of algal total starch. While iron deficiency causes dishorders in the chloroplast lamellar system and very often disintegration of the whole cell, the presence of vanadate prevents these symptoms. V-grown cells form only little starch, but show an enlarged thylakoid system within the chloroplast. The metabolic significance of these observations is discussed.
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Taken in part from the forthcoming doctoral thesis of L. J. M. Becker.
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Meisch, H.U., Becker, L.J.M. & Schwab, D. Ultrastructural changes inChlorella fusca during iron deficiency and vanadium treatment. Protoplasma 103, 273–280 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01276273
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01276273