The amino acid transport systems of the autotrophically grown green alga Chlorella

Abstract

The kinetic analysis of l-amino acid uptake by the green alga Chlorella revealed at least seven different uptake systems to be present in cells grown autotrophically with nitrate as nitrogen source. There is a ‘general system’ which transports most neutral and acidic amino acids, a system for short-chain neutral amino acids including proline, a system for basic amino acids including histidine, a special system for acidic amino acids, and specific systems for methionine, glutamine and threonine. The ‘general system’ is possibly the same as that which can be stimulated by incubation of cells in glucose plus ammonium (Sauer, N. (1984) Planta 161, 425–431). The incubation of Chlorella in glucose induces the increased synthesis of six amino acid uptake systems, namely the above-mentioned system for short-chain neutral amino acids, a threonine system, a methionine system, and a glutamine system. These results indicate that the uptake of l-amino acids by the green alga Chlorella is as complex as in other free-living organisms such as bacteria or yeast. The small number of amino acid uptake systems found in cells of higher plants, i.e. two or three, seems therefore to be a consequence of integration of the cells in a tissue supplying a relatively constant environment, and not a consequence of autotrophic growth on mineral carbon and mineral nitrogen.