Summary
A light-harvesting pigment-protein complex has been isolated fromMantoniella squamata (Micromonadophyceae, Chlorophyta) by nondenaturing polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis. The complex runs as two bands of molecular weights 54,000 and 55,000. There are two constituent polypeptides of molecular weights 20,500 and 22,000. Antibodies were raised to the 20,500-dalton polypeptides from this complex and to the 24,500-dalton polypeptide from the analogous complex ofPedinomonas minor (Micromonadophyceae). The antibodies to theM. squamata polypeptide are specific for both polypeptides of theM. squamata light-harvesting complex, as well as for a 27,000-dalton polypeptide of undetermined function. The antibodies to theP. minor polypeptide are specific for polypeptide components of the light-harvesting complex of that alga. The antibodies specific for theM. squamata light-harvesting complex polypeptides do not cross react with any polypeptides ofP. minor thylakoid membranes, as demonstrated by crossed immunoelectrophoresis. Similarly, no polypeptides ofM. squamata thylakoids cross react with the antibodies specific forP. minor light-harvesting complex polypeptides. These results indicate that the light-harvesting complex ofM. squamata is structurally very different from that ofP. minor. In a survey of several land plants and green algae, including representatives of all classes of green algae, a light-harvesting complex homologous to that ofM. squamata was found only inMicromonas pusilla. All other organisms tested possessed a lightharvesting complex homologous to that ofP. minor. The evolutionary and taxonomic implications of the novelM. squamata light-harvesting complex are discussed.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Anderson JM (1983) Chlorophyll-protein complexes of aCodium species, including a light-harvesting siphonaxanthinchlorophyll a/b-protein complex, an evolutionary relic of some Chlorophyta. Biochim Biophys Acta 724:370–380
Anderson JM, Waldron JC, Thorne SW (1980) Chlorophyllprotein complexes of a marine green alga,Caulerpa cactoides. Plant Sci Lett 17:149–157
Apel K, Kloppstech K (1978) The plastid membranes of barley (Hordeum vulgare). Light induced appearance of mRNA coding for the apoprotein of the light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b protein. Eur J Biochem 85:581–588
Arnon DI (1949) Copper enzymes in isolated chloroplasts. Polyphenol oxidase inBeta vulgaris. Plant Physiol 24:1–15
Barlow SB, Cattolico RA (1980) Fine structure of the scalecovered green flagellateMantoniella squamata (Manton et Parke) Desikachary. Br Phycol J 15:321–333
Barlow SB, Cattolico RA (1981) Mitosis and cytokinesis in the Prasinophyceae. I.Mantoniella squamata (Manton and Parke) Desikachary. Am J Bot 68:606–615
Benson EE, Cobb AH (1983) Pigment/protein complexes of the intertidal algaCodium fragile (Suringar) Hariot. New Phytol 95:581–594
Brown JS (1983) Spectroscopy of chlorophyll in photosynthetic membranes. In: Annual report 82, Department of Plant Biology, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Stanford, CA, pp 46–52
Chua N-H, Bennoun P (1975) Thylakoid membrane polypeptide ofChlamydomonas reinhardtii: wild-type and mutant strains deficient in photosystem II reaction center. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 72:2175–2179
Chua N-H, Blomberg F (1979) Immunochemical studies of thylakoid membrane polypeptides from spinach andChlamydomonas reinhardtii. A modified procedure for crossed immunoelectrophoresis of dodecylsulfate-protein complexes. J Biol Chem 254:215–233
Delepelaire P, Chua N-H (1981) Electrophoretic purification of chlorophyll a/b-protein complexes fromChlamydomonas reinhardtii and spinach and analysis of their polypeptide compositions. J Biol Chem 256:9300–9307
Foss P, Guillard RRL, Liaanen-Jensen S (1984) Prasinoxanthin—a chemosystematic marker for algae. Phytochemistry 23:1629–1633
Glazer AN (1983) Comparative biochemistry of photosynthetic light-harvesting systems. Annu Rev Biochem 52:125–157
Goodwin TW (1980) The biochemistry of the carotenoids, vol 1: plants. Chapman and Hall, New York
Harrison PJ, Waters RE, Taylor FJR (1980) A broad spectrum artificial seawater medium for coastal and open ocean phytoplankton. J Phycol 16:28–35
Johnson PW, Sieburth JM (1982) In-situ morphology and occurrence of eucaryotic phototrophs of bacterial size in the picoplankton of estuarine and oceanic waters. J Phycol 18:318–331
Lewin RA (1977)Prochloron, type genus of the Prochlorophyta. Phycologia 16:217
Manton I (1959) Electron microscopical observations on a very small flagellate: the problem ofChromulina pusilla Butcher. J Marine Biol Assoc UK 38:319–333
Manton I (1977)Dolichomastix (Prasinophyceae) from Arctic Canada, Alaska and South Africa: a new genus of flagellates with scaly flagella. Phycologia 16:427–438
Manton I, Parke M (1960) Further observations on small green flagellates with special reference to possible relatives ofChromulina pusilla Butcher. J Marine Biol Assoc UK 39:275–298
Mattox KR, Stewart KD (1984) Classification of the green algae. A concept based on comparative cytology. In: Irvine DEG, John DM (ed) Systematics of the green algae. Academic Press, London Orlando, pp 29–72
Moestrup O (1984) Further studies onNephroselmis and its allies (Prasinophyceae). II.Mamiella gen. nov., Mamiellaceae fam. nov., Mamiellales ord. nov. Nord J Bot 4:109–121
Nichols HW (1973) Growth media-freshwater. In: Stein JR (ed) Handbook of phycological methods: culture methods and growth measurements. Cambridge University Press, New York, pp 16–18
Ouchterlony Ö, Nilsson LÅ (1973) Immunodiffusion and immunoelectrophoresis. In: Weir DM (ed) Handbook of experimental immunology, vol 1. JB Lippincott, Philadelphia, pp 19.1–19.39
Ricketts TR (1970) The pigments of the Prasinophyceae and related organisms. Phytochemistry 9:1835–1842
Salisbury JL, Floyd GL (1978) Molecular, enzymatic and ultrastructure characterization of the pyrenoid of the scaly green monadMicromonas squamata. J Phycol 14:362–368
Schmidt GW, Bartlett SG, Grossman AR, Cashmore AR, Chua N-H (1981) Biosynthetic pathways of two polypeptide subunits of the light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b protein complex. J Cell Biol 91:468–478
Shuster G, Owens GC, Cohen Y, Ohad I (1984) Thylakoid polypeptide composition and light-independent phosphylation of the chlorophyll a,b-protein complex inProchloron, a prokaryote exhibiting oxygenic photosynthesis. Biochim Biophys Acta 767:596
Stewart KD, Mattox KR (1984) The case for a polyphyletic origin of mitochondria: morphological and molecular comparisons. J Mol Evol 21:54–57
Tobin EM (1981) White light effects on the mRNA for the light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b-protein inLemna gibba L. G-3. Plant Physiol 67:1078–1083
Withers NW, ALberte RS, Lewin RA, Thornber JP, Britton G, Goodwin TW (1978) Photosynthetic unit size, carotenoids, and chlorophyll-protein composition ofProchloron sp., a prokaryotic green alga. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 75:2301–2305
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Fawley, M.W., Stewart, K.D. & Mattox, K.R. The novel light-harvesting pigment-protein complex ofMantoniella squamata (Chlorophyta): Phylogenetic implications. J Mol Evol 23, 168–176 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02099911
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02099911