Phosphorus-31 NMR Studies of Cell Wall-Associated Calcium-Phosphates in Ulva lactuca

Phosphate concentrations in the range 0.1 to 2.0 millimolar induced the formation of extracellular amorphous calcium-phosphates in the cell wall of the marine macro algae Ulva lactuca when they were cultivated in light in seawater at 20 degrees C. A broad resonance representing these compounds as well as resonances for extracellular orthophosphate and polyphosphates could be followed by (31)P-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The presence of the calcium-phosphate made the cells brittle and it inhibited the growth of the macro algae and caused mortality within 1 week. The formation of the calcium-phosphates was influenced by the external phosphate concentration, the extracellular pH and the nature and concentration of the external nitrogen source. Furthermore, no formation of these compounds was observed when Ulva lactuca was cultivated in the dark, at low temperatures (5 degrees C) or in the presence of 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea. The complex could be removed through washes with ethylenediaminetetraacetate; this treatment did not alter the intracellular pH or the orthophosphate and polyphosphate pools and it restored growth.