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Science 3 May 1968:
Vol. 160. no. 3827, pp. 545 - 547
DOI: 10.1126/science.160.3827.545
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Articles

Fatty Acids in Blue-Green Algae: Possible Relation to Phylogenetic Position

Raymond W. Holton 1, Harry H. Blecker 2, and Timothy S. Stevens 2

1 Department of Botany, University of Tennessee, Knoxville 37916
2 Department of Chemistry, University of Michigan Flint College, Flint 48503

Analyses of the lipids in five species of blue-green algae show that the fatty acids are largely the C16 and C18 acids. The only alga that could be grown heterotrophically, Chlorogloea, formed the triply unsaturated C18 acid in the light but only the doubly unsaturated C18 acid in the dark. Examination of these results and the results of others suggest that, except for one species, the more highly unsaturated acids are found in the morphologically more complex algae. The fatty acid compositions of blue-green algae are different from the fatty acid composition of the other prokaryotic organisms, the bacteria. It is speculated that the diversity of the patterns of fatty acid composition among the blue-green algae could be of phylogenetic significance.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Morphological, Chemical, and Genetic Diversity of Tropical Marine Cyanobacteria Lyngbya spp. and Symploca spp. (Oscillatoriales).
R. W. Thacker and V. J. Paul (2004)
Appl. Envir. Microbiol. 70, 3305-3312
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Sterols: Isolation from a Blue-Green Alga.
N. J. de Souza and W. R. Nes (1968)
Science 162, 363
   Abstract »    PDF »


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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)