Isolation and characterization of plasma and smooth membranes of the marine diatom Nitzschia alba

A procedure is described for isolating plasma, smooth and other cellular membranes from hypotonically lysed protoplasts of the marine diatom, Nitzschia alba. From starting material of approximately 10 g wet weight (10¹⁰ cells), about 168 mg (organic weight) of a membrane-enriched fraction, exclusive of mitochondria, is obtained by differential centrifugation. From this, six membrane fractions are separated on a discontinuous sucrose gradient by isopycnic centrifugation.The plasma membranes, from the density region 1.23-1.29 g/cc, consist of small vesicles and sheets. They are purified approximately 20-fold, based on the increase in specific activity of a (Na⁺-K⁺-Mg²⁺)-ATPase, an enzyme found predominantly in these membranes. They also contain the highest specific and total activity of a (Mg²⁺)-ATPase and, in addition, are distinguished chemically by their high sterol specific content and high molar ratio of sterol/phospholipid (0.792-0.854). The carbohydrate/ protein ratio (0.070-0.072) is appreciably lower than that of the smooth membranes.The smooth membranes separate into two distinct fractions, a light and heavy component, which occur at the top of the sucrose gradient in densities of 1.13 and 1.18 g/cc, respectively. Both fractions are composed of relatively large membrane vesicles and membrane sheets and are distinguished from other membrane fractions by an exceptionally high carbohydrate/protein ratio (0.194-0.294).The light component shows the highest specific content of lipid, phospholipid, neutral lipid, carbohydrate, sialic acid, and RNA, and the highest specific activity of NADPH cytochrome c reductase, 5′-nucleotidase and phosphodiesterase compared to the other five fractions. It shows the lowest Na⁺ plus K⁺ stimulation of the (Mg²⁺)-ATPase. This fraction is probably enriched in endoplasmic reticulum.The heavy component contains some Golgi-like vesicles, sacs and tubules. It is characterized by the highest total content of chemical constituents analyzed, with the exception of RNA, and by the highest specific activity of thiamine pyrophosphatase, uridine diphosphatase, acid and alkaline phosphatase, and glucose-6-phosphatase, suggesting that this component is enriched in Golgi membranes approximately 13-fold.A most striking feature of these diatom membranes is the presence in all fractions of (Mg²⁺)-ATPase activity which is stimulated 5- to 10-fold by the presence of equimolar Na²⁺ plus K⁺. The data clearly differentiate these membrane fractions from each other as well as from membranes prepared from animal cells.