title: Distribution and abundance of MAAs in 33 species of microalgae across 13 classes.
abstract: We provide a direct comparison of the distribution and abundance of mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs) in a diverse range of microalgal cultures (33 species across 13 classes) grown without supplementary ultraviolet radiation (UV). We compare the MAAs in cultures with those present in characterised natural phytoplankton populations from the English Channel. We detected 25 UV absorbing compounds including at least two with multiple absorption maxima. We used LC-MS to provide chemical characterisation of the six most commonly occurring MAAs, namely, palythene, palythine, mycosporine-glycine, palythenic acid, porphyra-334 and shinorine. MAAs were abundant (up to 7 pg MAA cell(-1)) in 10 species, with more minor and often unknown MAAs in a further 11 cultures. Shinorine was the most frequently occurring and abundant MAA (up to 6.5 pg cell(-1)) and was present in all but two of the MAA-containing species. The study provides further insight into the diversity and abundance of MAAs important from an ecological perspective and as potential source of natural alternatives to synthetic sunscreens.
authors.affiliation: Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, The Hoe, Plymouth PL1 3DH, UK. call@pml.ac.uk
authors.forename: Carole Anne
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Llewellyn
authors.forename: Ruth Louise
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Airs
mesh_terms: D000596:Amino Acids / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D001267:Atlantic Ocean; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid; D056890:Eukaryota / Q000737:chemistry*; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D010839:Phytoplankton / Q000737:chemistry*; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids