Abstract

Differential scanning calorimetry was used on aqueous dispersions of lipids extracted from the blue-green algae Anacystis nidulans and Anabaena variabilis. The reversible curves, exothermic on cooling and endothermic on heating, indicated that thermotrophic phase transition of the membrane lipids took place over a wide range of temperatures. These results suggest that the lipids of the thylakoid membranes in these algae were in the liquid crystalline state at the growth temperature, entered the phase separation state at about room temperature and went into the gel state below the freezing point. The temperature for the onset of phase separation was dependent on both the growth temperature and the growth stage of the culture.

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