Form of inorganic carbon utilized for photosynthesis in Chlorella vulgaris 11 h cells

The rate of photosynthetic ¹⁴CO₂ fixation in Chlorella vulgaris11h cells in the presence of 0.55 mM NaH¹⁴CO₃ at pH 8.0 (20?C)was greatly enhanced by the addition of carbonic anhydrase (CA).However, when air containing 400 ppm ¹⁴CO₂ was bubbled throughthe algal suspension, the rate of ¹⁴CO₂ fixation immediatelyafter the start of the bubbling was suppressed by CA. Theseeffects of CA were observed in cells which had been grown inair containing 2% CO₂ (high-CO₂ cells) as well as those grownin ordinary air (containing 0.04% CO₂, low-CO₂ cells). We thereforeconcluded that, irrespective of the CO₂ concentration givento the algal cells during growth, the active species of inorganiccarbon absorbed by Chlorella cells is free CO₂ and they cannotutilize bicarbonate. The effects observed in the high-CO₂ cellswere much more pronounced than those in the high-CO₂ cells.This difference was accounted for by the difference in the affinityfor CO₂ in photosynthesis between the high- and low-CO₂ cells. (Received May 19, 1978; )