Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gbm5v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T13:55:20.758Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Secondary carotenoid accumulation in flagellates of the green alga Haematococcus lacustris

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 November 1997

KAY GRÜNEWALD
Affiliation:
Institute of General Botany, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Am Planetarium 1, D-07743 Jena, Germany
CHRISTOPH HAGEN
Affiliation:
Institute of General Botany, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Am Planetarium 1, D-07743 Jena, Germany
WOLFRAM BRAUNE
Affiliation:
Institute of General Botany, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Am Planetarium 1, D-07743 Jena, Germany
Get access

Abstract

The combination of nitrogen deprivation and increased cultivation light intensity resulted in the synthesis of secondary carotenoids in flagellates of Haematococcus lacustris. The pigment pattern was characterized by high-pressure liquid chromatography analysis during the accumulation period and in response to inhibitors of carotenoid biosynthesis (diphenylamine, norflurazon and tetcyclacis). Diphenylamine treatment resulted in (i) a decrease in ketocarotenoids and (ii) an accumulation of β-carotene and zeaxanthin due to inhibition of the β-carotene oxygenase. Our results indicate that astaxanthin synthesis in H. lacustris follows the biosynthetic pathway elucidated in the marine bacterium Agrobacterium aurantiacum.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 1997 British Phycological Society

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)