A New Form of Chlorophyll c Involved in Light-Harvesting

A new form of chlorophyll c has been isolated from the pyrmnesiophyte Pavlova gyrans Butcher. This pigment is spectrally similar to chlorophyll c(2), but all the absorption maxima (454, 583, and 630 nm in diethyl ether) are shifted 4 to 6 nanometers to longer wavelengths. The new pigment can be separated from other chlorophyll c-type pigments by reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography and thin layer chromatography. Both chlorophylls c(1) and c(2) are found with the new chlorophyll c pigment in P. gyrans, and it has also been detected in the chrysophyte Synura petersenii Korsh. The light-harvesting function of the new chlorophyll c pigment is indicated by its presence along with chlorophyll c(1) and c(2) in a light-harvesting pigment-protein complex isolated from P. gyrans in which chlorophyll c pigments efficiently transfer absorbed light energy to chlorophyll a.