Analysis of the light-harvesting pigment-protein complexes of Tetraselmis striata and elucidation of their evolutionary characteristics

May 29, 2025

Revealing a unique light-harvesting strategy in the early green plant genus Tetraselmis

Researchers from Shizuoka University and the RIKEN CSRS isolated photosynthetic pigment-protein complexes from the green alga Tetraselmis striata and performed pigment analysis, fluorescence and absorption spectroscopy, and molecular phylogenetic studies. As a result, carotenoids not previously reported in other green algae were identified in the light-harvesting pigment-protein complex of T. striata, suggesting that this alga has developed a unique light-harvesting strategy during its evolution.

The genus Tetraselmis has attracted attention in fields such as aquaculture, biofuel production, and health food industries due to its ability to produce nutritionally valuable lipids and pigments. In this study, specific carotenoids such as loroxanthin decenoate and loroxanthin dodecenoate were commonly detected in all light-harvesting complexes, including light-harvesting complex (LHC), photosystem I-light harvesting complex (PSI-LHCI), and photosystem II-light harvesting complex (PSII-LHCII). These findings provide important clues for understanding the diverse adaptive strategies for light harvesting and photoprotection in the genus Tetraselmis.

 

Original article

Photosynthesis Research doi: 10.1007/s11120-025-01152-7

Y. N. Yamamoto, T. Suzuki, Y. Ueno, T. Tomo, N. Dohmae, A.Takabayashi, R. Nagao,

"Biochemical and phylogenetic analyses of light-harvesting complexes from Tetraselmis striata".

Contact

Naoshi Dohmae
Unit Leader
Biomolecular Characterization Unit