| Abstract: | The extremely halotolerant green alga, Dunaliella parva, tolerates salt concentrations from 0.3 to 3.0 M NaCl. Effects of long-term adaptation to five distinct salinities were analyzed. Salt-dependent differences of physiological parameters such as growth rate, pigments, quantitative protein contents, and gas exchange were measured; furthermore the qualitative protein composition in salt-adapted cells was investigated using SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Proteins of apparent molecular masses of 26, 35, 39, 50, and 63 kDa were induced or intensified with an increase in external sodium chloride concentration whereas proteins of 85 and 101 kDa were diminished in high salt algae. After selective staining, four modifications of glycoproteins were observed. A glycoprotein of 96 kDa was produced exclusively in low salt cells whereas glycosylations of 105, 135, and 260 kDa were induced by high salt concentrations. |
