CAROTENOID COMPOSITIONS OF CLADOPHORA BALLS (AEGAGROPILA LINNAEI) AND SOME MEMBERS OF THE CLADOPHORALES (ULVOPHYCEAE, CHLOROPHYTA): THEIR TAXONOMIC AND EVOLUTIONARY IMPLICATION¹

Abstract

Photosynthetic pigments were analyzed by HPLC for 27 samples of the Cladophorales (Ulvophyceae, Chlorophyta). The carotenoid compositions of the examined algae were classified into three types based on the final compound of biosynthesis of the a-carotene branch: lutein type, characterized by containing lutein as a major carotenoid and lacking loroxanthin and siphonaxanthin; loroxanthin type, characterized by containing loroxanthin and lacking siphonaxanthin; and siphonaxanthin type, characterized by containing siphonaxanthin. We constructed molecular phylogenetic tree of the species examined in the present study using 18S rRNA gene sequences and mapped the carotenoid types of the species onto the tree. The molecular phylogenetic analysis divided the Cladophorales into two major clades, clade 1 and Aegagropila-clade (clade 2), and divided clade 1 into subclade 1-1 and subclade 1-2. All the examined species positioned in the Aegagropila-clade and those of the subclade 1-1 belonged to the loroxanthin type, whereas both lutein type and siphonaxanthin type appeared only in the subclade 1-2. The clades delineated by molecular phylogenetic analysis were congruent with distribution of the carotenoid types, indicating that the carotenoid types are of taxonomic significance in the Cladophorales.Considering the distribution pattern of these carotenoid types and minimum state changes in the Cladophorales, we concluded that the loroxanthin type was the primitive (plesiomorphic) state and the siphonaxanthin type and lutein type appeared in the subclade 1-2 as advanced (apomorphic) state within this order and suggested that the cladophoralean siphonaxanthin type would have been secondarily acquired.

Morphology and phylogenetic position of Spongiochrysis hawaiiensis gen. et sp. nov., the first known terrestrial member of the order Cladophorales (Ulvophyceae, Chlorophyta)

“…A detailed characterization of the pigments occurring in Spongiochrysis hawaiiensis, which was not possible in the present study, would be desirable. Evidence is available that in the order Cladophorales/Siphonocladales, the composition of carotenoid pigments may be a better phylogenetic marker than morphological features (Yoshii et al, 2004). Detailed ultrastructural analyses might also be of help in obtaining better insights into the phylogeny of this group.…”

Investigation of Antioxidant Activity and Phytochemical Compositions of Celtis Tournefortii

“…11,12 The method uses a sample of 0.5 g was mixed with 25 mL of ice-cooled acetone in the dark, the mixture was stored in the dark at -20 °C for 18 hours and the supernatant was filtered. Carotene, xanthophyll and chlorophylls a and b (μg/g) were determined spectrophotometrically at 470, 645 and 662 nm respectively by means of equations proposed by the owners of the method.…”

Defining the primary route for lutein synthesis in plants: The role of Arabidopsis carotenoid β-ring hydroxylase CYP97A3

“…In contrast, the -ring double bond is not in conjugation, and -rings have relatively free rotation around the C6Ј-C7Ј carbon. Unlike the ubiquitous ␤-ring, which is found in organisms as diverse as archaeobacteria and plants, -rings occur exclusively in green plants (5)(6)(7), red algae (8), and one extant prochlorophyte (9,10). Therefore, -ring formation and modifications should postdate that of ␤-rings in evolutionary time and would be expected to have evolved only in this subgroup of -ring carotenoid-containing organisms.…”