Biochemistry

Ascorbate (Asc, also called vitamin C) is of vital importance to the cellular functions of both animals and plants. During evolution, Asc has become one of the most abundant metabolites in seed plants; however, Asc contents in cyanobacteria, green algae and bryophytes are very low. Here we describe a sensitive and reliable HPLC method for the quantitative determination of cellular Asc content in the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.