fragile membrane?

[Carrie Schneider]

I have a mutant with an interesting phenotype and I would be 
interested in hearing any speculations about the cause of this 
characteristc.

	The membrane lipids of a  recently isolated mutant of a 
unicellular marine alga, Nannochloropsis, is deficient in the 
fatty acid 20:5. The cells accumulate the fatty acid 20:4 instead. 
These cells grow more slowly than wild type on agar. 
	The strange phenotype is: liquid cultures of the cells are 
very sensitive to agitation, i.e., if cells are magnetically stirred 
in a small volume of media, they will not grow. Any ideas?

Carrie Schneider