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Genomic Contributions to Understanding the Evolution of Red Algal Plastids and Pigment Biosynthesis

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Red Algae in the Genomic Age

Part of the book series: Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology ((COLE,volume 13))

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Abstract

Red algae, along with cyanobacteria, perform oxygenic photosynthesis using a combination of chlorophyll and accessory light-harvesting pigments, known collectively as phycobiliproteins. These pigments are structurally arranged with linker polypeptides on the outer thylakoid membrane and transfer light energy to chlorophyll a of photosystem II within the thylakoid. The bilin proteins include phycocyanin, allophycocyanin, and phycoerythrin and, when combined with the linkers, form phycobilisomes. Linker polypeptides are usually nonpigmented and function to direct photon energy to the core of phycobiliproteins and then chlorophyll.

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Acknowledgments

BAN, SM, and MC are fellows of the Australian Research Council. MC is also supported by grants from the Australian Research Council (DP0665169 and DP0878174).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Science, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia

    Brett A. Neilan & Shauna Murray

  2. Australian Centre for Astrobiology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia

    Brett A. Neilan, Shauna Murray & Min Chen

  3. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia

    Min Chen

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  1. Brett A. Neilan
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  2. Shauna Murray
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Correspondence to Brett A. Neilan .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Jerusalem, Mevo Hadas 20, Efrat, 90435, Israel

    Joseph Seckbach

  2. Marine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, 93106, USA

    David J. Chapman

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Neilan, B.A., Murray, S., Chen, M. (2010). Genomic Contributions to Understanding the Evolution of Red Algal Plastids and Pigment Biosynthesis. In: Seckbach, J., Chapman, D. (eds) Red Algae in the Genomic Age. Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology, vol 13. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3795-4_14

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