Vital staining permits isolation of calcium vesicles from the green algaMougeotia

摘要

The calcium vesicles of the green algaMougeotia(G. Wagner and R. Rossbacher, 1980, Planta149, 298–305) were isolated for characterization in vitro by fractionation of algal homogenate on sucrose density gradients. A new technique, based on vital staining by neutral red or rhodamine B, permitted isolation. Minimum dye binding to the calcium vesicles prevented desintegration, and for isolation a single, thoroughly defined centrifugation step sufficed, facilitated by the exceptionally high vesicular density of ≥1.3 g· cm-3. Neutral red in particular seems to be accumulated by the vesicles via hydrogen bonds to abundant phenolic hydroxyl groups which, reversibly bound to an as yet undefined vesicle core, may well provide coordination sites for the observed calcium bin