Studies on 31 cyanophyta species: I. Amino acid analyses : II. Effects of irradiation with [superscript 60]Co

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1974

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Complete amino acid analyses of 20 species of blue-green algae were done after growing part of the cultures axenically. A Beckman Model 121 Automatic Amino Acid Analyzer was used at NASA. Amino acid analyses of the representative species needed could not be located with a Medlars Search in the literature, hence the cultures had to be grown, lyophilized, and chemically purified for the amino acid analyses. To test the most self-sufficient cells known, the blue-green algae, 26 species, under simulated conditions of the Mars Mission in 1975 were irradiated with [superscript 60]Co from two sources, the nuclear reactor at Texas A & M; and the therapeutic X-ray machine at Baylor University School of Medicine. The irradiated sealed cultures were left under a double seal, unopened for 10 months (approximate time for a space ship to reach Mars), then placed in nutrient broth under proper conditions for growth. Controls were run. There was a single survivor, Glaucocystis nostochinearum, the single symbiont in the group, indicated there is a possibility that earth organisms could contaminate Mars. The theory of Symbiosis for the origin of the eucaryotic cell from the procaryotic cell is also supported.

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