Abstract
Mother cell walls (MCW) of certain chlorococcal green algae species are able to resist in culture medium. This resistance was explained by presence of acetoresistant biopolymer (ARB) in MCW (ATKINSON 1972).
The chemical structure and origin of ARB are stll highly debated. According to a similarity with structural constituents of the exines of spores and pollen grains, ARB was considered as sporopollenin, formed via oxidative polymerization of carotenoids (SHAW 1971).
GUILFORD et al. (1988) supported lonsaturated aliphatic chains to be precursors of ARB more than carotenoids. Acetoresistant biopolymer was named algenan (CORRE et al. 1996).
MCW can accumulate in the medium also in species, which do not produce algenans. The resistance may be a result of the presence of additional sugars in the cell wall (BURZYK et al. 1995)