BIOTIN LIBERATION BY THE LICHEN ALGA COCCOMYXA SP. AND BY CHLORELLA PYRENOIDOSA

The unicellular green alga Coccomyxa, a component of the lichenPeltigera aphthosa, liberated about 7.2mµg biotin permg dry weight of cells into the culture medium during a growthperiod of 15–20 days. The corresponding figure for thefree-living alga Chlorella pyrenoidosa was 0.45mµg ofbiotin. Chromatographic analysis indicated that this was freebiotin and not a bound form of the vitamin. The biotin concentrationof rinsed Coccomyxa cells was 1.88mµg per mg dry weightof cells, of which less than 0.01mµg was extractable byhot water. Cells of Chlorella contained 0.16mµg of biotinper mg dry weight, of which 0.11mµg was extractable byhot water. The biotin content of Coccomyxa, which was about12 times that of Chlorella, is thus almost entirely in the boundform. The importance of biotin in the symbiotic interactionsbetween the alga and the fungus in Peltigera is discussed. ¹Present address: University Department of Agriculture, Oxford,England. ²Present address: Institute of Marine Resources, Universityof California, La Jolla, California, U.S.A.