Effect of oxygen removal on hydrogen photoproduction in algae.

Hydrogen photoproduction from water in Scenedesmus cells requires removal of oxygen by a reagent in contact with the algae. Both deoxyhemoglobin and deoxymyoglobin stimulated hydrogen production by reversible absorption of oxygen. Their effectiveness was greatly increased when other oxygen-combining reagents were present in a separate chamber with deoxyhemoglobin and deoxymyoglobin serving as reversible oxygen transfer agents.