Fucoxanthin-Chlorophyll a/c Light-Harvesting Complexes of Laminaria saccharina: Partial Amino Acid Sequences and Arrangement in Thylakoid Membranes

Abstract

The N-terminus of the major polypeptide component of the light-harvesting complex (LHC) from the brown alga Laminaria saccharina is blocked. Two partial sequences, one near the N-terminus and the other near the C-terminus, have been obtained by chemical cleavage with acetic acid and N-chlorosuccinimide. Four peptides were separated after trypsin digestion of the thylakoid membranes. One fragment is not phosphorylated, is not blocked, and has been sequenced. Purification on a reversed-phase column showed two forms of the LHC protein: the more hydrophobic form appears to be bound to photosystem I. These results are compared with LHC from other Chromophytes and the CAB family of green plants.

Food or fad? Challenges and opportunities for including seaweeds in a Nordic diet

“…Kelps went from olive-brown to bright green at first and then to a less distinct greenish colour. The brown colour of kelps is due to the presence of carotenoid pigments, mainly fucoxanthin, bound to chlorophyll a and c to form lightharvesting complexes (Douady et al 1994). Whereas heat treatment of brown seaweeds, especially boiling, generally tends to increase phenol content, including fucoxanthin (Rajauria et al 2010, Amorim-Carrilho et al 2014, high temperature during cooking may dissociate the fucoxanthin from the light-harvesting complexes and consequently reveal the green colour of chlorophylls.…”

Molecular study of a light-harvesting apoprotein of Giraudyopsis stellifer (Chrysophyceae)

“…On the basis of the very close relationships between Fucophyceae and Chrysophyceae [23,25] we designed synthetic oligonucleotides from partial microsequencing of LHCP from L. saccharina (Fucophyceae) previously obtained in our laboratory [9].…”

“…7. A and B helices from Chlorophyta (tomato) LHCP (LHca2, LHca4, LHcb2, LHcb6) and Chromophyta (L. saccharina [9], P. tricornutum [2], A. carterae [ 17] (The B helix is undetermined in A. carterae). -gap to obtain the best alignment.…”

“…Regarding Chromophyta, the associated pigment and polypeptide composition have been characterized in several classes ofmicroalgae (for reviews see [1,10,16]) and in the macrophyte Fucophyceae [6,9]. These studies pointed out the diversity of both pigment composition and…”

“…Its LHC is a chlorophyll a/c fucoxanthinviolaxanthin complex [23] and its apoprotein is strongly recognized by a Fucophycea LHCP antibody raised in our laboratory [25]. This enabled us to utilize the partial microsequence of LHCP from Laminaria saccharina [9] via PCR amplification in order to study the LHCP gene(s) from Chromophyta.…”