Abstract
Abstract The cyanobacterium Anacystis nidulans is bleached when subjected to both light and O2 to gether with suitable (pre)treatment o f the cells such as incubation at high (≧ 48 °C) or low (≦ 17 °C) temperatures, or in presence of metabolic inhibitors, or of substances forming com plexes with divalent cations. Concomitantly degradation o f the intracellular membranes is ob served (G. Schmetterer, G. A. Peschek, Biochem. Physiol. Pflanzen 176, 90-100 (1981)). The same three conditions cause formation of hydrocarbons, mostly ethane, a characteristic product of lipid peroxidation. Ethane production is unchanged and still light-sensitive even when no more pigments can be detected in the cells. In "white" cells light-dependent O2-uptake is also observed. The action spectrum of this process suggests that "completely" bleached cells retain very small amounts of residual chlorophyll, which must be unusually resistant to photooxidation.
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