THE BIOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF SOME ESTUARINE PHYTOPLANKTON SPECIES. I. FATTY ACID COMPOSITION¹²

Abstract

SUMMARY The fatty acid composition of 10 species of estuarine phytoplankton was determined using gas‐liquid chromatography. Nine of the species were isolated from Yaquina Bay, Oregon. These species were common components of the phytoplankton of the bay. The tenth species, Isochrysis galbana , was obtained from the Culture Collection of Algae at Indiana University. The 10 organisms comprised 3 species of Chlorophyta, 1 species of Cryptophyta, and 6 species of Chrysophyta. Twenty‐eight fatty acids were found in the 10 species. The fatty acids common to all species were 14:0, 16:0, 16:1, 13:0, 18:1, and 18:2. The Chlorophyta were distinguished by a high content of linolenic acid, 18:3. The diatoms were distinguished by very low amounts of C 18 acids and high proportion of 20:5. All species contained a high proportion of palmitic acid, 16:0.