Chlorophyll d: the puzzle resolved.
Chlorophyll a (Chl a) has always been regarded as the sole chlorophyll with a role in photochemical conversion in oxygen-evolving phototrophs, whereas chlorophyll d (Chl d), discovered in small quantities in red algae in 1943, was often regarded as an artefact of isolation. Now, as a result of discoveries over the past year, it has become clear that Chl d is the major chlorophyll of a free-living and widely distributed cyanobacterium that lives in light environments depleted in visible light and enhanced in infrared radiation. Moreover, Chl d not only has a light-harvesting role but might also replace Chl a in the special pair of chlorophylls in both reactions centers of photosynthesis.
Larkum
Anthony W D
AW
School of Biological Sciences, Building A08, University of Sydney, NSW, Australia. alark@mail.usyd.edu.au
Kühl
Michael
M
D000818:Animals; D002734:Chlorophyll / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology*; D000077194:Chlorophyll A; D008027:Light; D014561:Urochordata / Q000502:physiology
D002734:Chlorophyll; C107509:chlorophyll d; D000077194:Chlorophyll A