Green microalgae can use naphthalenesulfonic acids as sources of sulfur

1-Naphthalenesulfonate (1-NS) was utilized by axenic cultures of Scenedesmus obliquus and by 5 other green microalgae as the sole source of sulfur. For all algae under study, 2-naphthalenesulfonate was definitely inferior to 1-NS as a source of sulfur. The rate of disapperance of 1-NS from the medium was measured by HPLC and, indirectly, by relating growth to sulfur supply. The physiological availability of 1-NS sulfur for Scenedesmus obliquus amounted to about 14% of sulfate sulfur. 1-Naphthol appeared as the major metabolite of 1-NS. Hence, it was concluded that 1-NS underwent a desulfonation which also took place in the presence of moderate concentrations of sulfate.Abbreviations HPLC high performance liquid chromatography - 1-NS 1-naphthalenesulfonic acid - 2-NS 2-naphthalenesulfonic acid - OD optical density - OD₀ optical density at time 0 of the light-and-dark cycle Dedicated to Prof. Dr. W. Habsguth on the occasion of his 75th birthday