Evidence for a photoprotective function for secondary carotenoids of snow algae

Journal Article · Sun Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 1993 · Journal of Phycology; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1529-8817.1993.tb00143.x· OSTI ID:5939721

Bidigare, R R; Ondrusek, M E ^[1]; Kennicutt, II, M C ^[2]; Iturriaga, R ^[3]; Harvey, H R ^[4]; Hoham, R W ^[5]; Macko, S A ^[6]

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1. Univ. of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI (United States)
2. Geochemical Environmental Research Group, College Station, TX (United States)
3. Univ. of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)
4. Univ. of Maryland, Solomons, MD (United States)
5. Colgate Univ., Hamilton, NY (United States)
6. Univ. of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA (United States)

Snow algae occupy a unique habitat in high altitude and polar environments. These algae are often subject to extremes in nutrient availability, acidity, solar irradiance, desiccation, and ambient temperature. This report documents the accumulation of secondary carotenoids by snow algae in response to the availability of nitrogenous nutrients. Unusually large accumulations of astaxanthin esters in extra-chloroplastic lipid globules produce the characteristic red pigmentation typical of some snow algae (e.g., Chlamydomonas nivalis (Bauer) Wille). Consequently, these compounds greatly reduce the amount of light available for absorption by the light-harvesting pigment-protein complexes, thus potentially limiting photoinhibition and photodamage caused by intense solar radiation. The esterification of astaxanthin with fatty acids represents a possible mechanism by which this chromophore can be concentrated within cytoplasmic globules to maximize its photoprotective efficiency. 53 refs., 2 figs., 4 tabs.

• OSTI ID: 5939721
• Journal Information: Journal of Phycology; (United States), Vol. 29:4; ISSN 0022-3646
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
ARCTIC REGIONS
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
CHLAMYDOMONAS
BIOCHEMISTRY
BIOLOGICAL RADIATION EFFECTS
RESPONSE MODIFYING FACTORS
ALGAE
AMBIENT TEMPERATURE
ATMOSPHERIC PRECIPITATIONS
CAROTENOIDS
ESTERIFICATION
NITROGEN
NUTRIENTS
SOLAR RADIATION
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CHEMISTRY
CHLOROPHYCOTA
CRYOSPHERE
ELEMENTS
HYDROCARBONS
MICROORGANISMS
NONMETALS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PIGMENTS
PLANTS
POLAR REGIONS
RADIATION EFFECTS
RADIATIONS
STELLAR RADIATION
TERPENES
UNICELLULAR ALGAE
560100* - Biomedical Sciences
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550200 - Biochemistry