PROTOPLAST PRODUCTION FROM THE UNICELLULAR RED ALGA PORPHYRIDIUM SP (UTEX 637) BY AN EXTRACELLULAR BACTERIAL LYTIC PREPARATION

Protoplasts from the unicellular marine red alga Porphyridium sp. (Porphyridiales, Bangiophyceae, Rhodophyta) were isolated using an extracellular crude enzymatic preparation obtained from a mixture of soil bacteria. Cells incubated with this lytic preparation burst when transferred to distilled water. Culture age, cell density, and concentration of the lytic preparation significantly affected the bursting rates of cells. Fluorescein diacetate staining and the photosynthetic potential of the protoplasts were found to be similar to controls. These findings suggest that the lytic treatment had no effect on cell viability. Similarly, the growth rate and the maximum number of treated cells after 10 d of growth did not differ from those of the untreated cells. The number of regenerating protoplasts of Porphyridium that burst on transferring from the regeneration medium to distilled water rapidly decreased during the first 5 h of regeneration. After 20 h the bursting rates of treated and non-treated cells were similar. This indicates that new capsular polysaccharide resynthesis by treated cells starts at a very early stage.