Some Respiratory Characteristics of the Blue-Green Alga, Anabaena

Abstract

In recent years there has been a considerable increase in our knowledge of the respiratory metabolism in higher plants. The lower plants, however, have received little attention. This is particularly true of the blue-green algae where the amount of available information on their respiration is almost negligible. The only known investigation has been that of Emerson (1) who reported that respiration in a species of Oscillatoria was inhibited about 80% by 10~4 M hydrogen cyanide but only 12% by a mixture of 97% carbon monoxide-3% oxygen. The purpose of this investigation has been to determine some of the over-all respiratory characteristics of a blue-green alga, and to compare certain of these characteristics with those generally found in living organisms.