The quantitative heteroside distribution in Porphyra columbina Montagne and Bangia atropurpurea (Roth) C. Agardh (Bangiales, Rhodophyta) has been measured using '3C-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and gas-liquid chromatography. In P. columbina, floridoside and both D-and i-isofloridoside were recorded, with concentrations of i-isofloridoside exceeding those of floridoside. All three compounds were also measured in 6. atropurpurea. It was suggested that these striking differences might result from ecological and seasonal factors, or be attributed to taxonomic confusion in the genus Porphyra (Peat and Rees, 1961). Recently, the chemical structures and configurations of a11 heterosides from Porphyra perforata were investigated using both NMR and GLC-MS, and the occurrence of floridoside along with both D-and L-isofloridoside was verified (Meng et al., 1987). Although these authors did not publish any quantitative data on the heterosides, they mentioned that U.K. was supported by a generous fellowship from the Deutsche the ratio of the D and L forms of isofloridoside in one population of P. perforata changed over time: in winter (November), the ratio of D to L form was 1:l; whereas in samples collected in early summer (May), the ratio was 0.01:l. In a recent publication, Meng and Srivastava (1993) reported on diurna1 and seasonal variations in floridoside concentration in P. perforata from Canada. These authors demonstrated a steady increase in floridoside content from February to May, and also noted some indefinite changes in isofloridoside level, but without any differentiation between the D and L forms. The biological function of the heterosides as organic compounds involved in osmotic acclimation has been investigated (Kauss, 1967a(Kauss, , 1967b Reed et al., 1980; Wiencke andLauchli, 1981; Reed, 1985), but in these studies the D and L forms of isofloridoside were not distinguished, and sometimes even floridoside and isofloridoside were not separately measured. ''C-Incorporation studies on P. umbilicalis demonstrate that floridoside is the major photoassimilated compound, and that isofloridoside is very slow in labeling (Craigie et al., 1968). Studies of salinity effects on the concentration of heterosides in Bangiales show that only floridoside plays an important role in the osmotic acclimation. The content of floridoside increases linearly with increasing salt treatment, whereas the amount of isofloridoside (no differentiation between D and L form) remained almost unchanged (Reed et al., 1980; Reed, 1985). It was concluded that within the Bangiales, floridoside is metabolically much more active than isofloridoside.In the present study of a population of Porphyra columbina Montagne from Sydney, Australia, the amounts of floridoside and the D and L form of isofloridoside were quantitatively measured throughout the main growing season by 13C-NMR and GLC techniques. The distribution pattern of these compounds was also determined for severa1 geographically isolated summer populations of P. columbina and ...