U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Https

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

PubAg

Main content area

Light harvesting complexes of Chromera velia, photosynthetic relative of apicomplexan parasites

Author:
Josef Tichy, Zdenko Gardian, David Bina, Peter Konik, Radek Litvin, Miroslava Herbstova, Arnab Pain, Frantisek Vacha
Source:
Biochimica et biophysica acta 2013 v.1827 no.6 pp. 723-729
ISSN:
0005-2728
Subject:
circular dichroism spectroscopy, solar radiation, electron microscopy, Rhodophyta, Miozoa, chlorophyll binding proteins, photosystem I, molecular weight, autotrophs, antennae, Bacillariophyceae
Abstract:
The structure and composition of the light harvesting complexes from the unicellular alga Chromera velia were studied by means of optical spectroscopy, biochemical and electron microscopy methods. Two different types of antennae systems were identified. One exhibited a molecular weight (18–19kDa) similar to FCP (fucoxanthin chlorophyll protein) complexes from diatoms, however, single particle analysis and circular dichroism spectroscopy indicated similarity of this structure to the recently characterized XLH antenna of xanthophytes. In light of these data we denote this antenna complex CLH, for “Chromera Light Harvesting” complex. The other system was identified as the photosystem I with bound Light Harvesting Complexes (PSI–LHCr) related to the red algae LHCI antennae. The result of this study is the finding that C. velia, when grown in natural light conditions, possesses light harvesting antennae typically found in two different, evolutionary distant, groups of photosynthetic organisms.
Agid:
884204