title: The new carotenoid pigment moraxanthin is associated with toxic microalgae.
abstract: The new pigment "moraxanthin" was found in natural samples from a fish mortality site in the Inland Bays of Delaware, USA. Pure cultures of the species, tentatively named Chattonella cf. verruculosa, and natural samples contained this pigment as a dominant carotenoid. The pigment, obtained from a 10 L culture of C. cf. verruculosa, was isolated and harvested by HPLC and its structure determined from MS and 1D- and 2D-NMR. The data identified this pigment as a new acylated form of vaucheriaxanthin called moraxanthin after the berry like algal cell. Its presence in pure cultures and in natural bloom samples indicates that moraxanthin is specific to C. cf. verruculosa and can be used as a marker of its presence when HPLC is used to analyze natural blooms samples.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento delle Scienze Biologiche, Università di Napoli Federico II, Via Mezzocannone 8, 80134 Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Mangoni
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Chimica delle Sostanze Naturali, Università di Napoli Federico II, via D. Montesano 49, 80131 Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: Concetta
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Imperatore
authors.affiliation: Center for Marine Science, University of North Carolina at Wilmington, 5600 Marvin K. Moss Lane, Wilmington, NC 28409, USA.
authors.forename: Carmelo R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Tomas
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Chimica delle Sostanze Naturali, Università di Napoli Federico II, via D. Montesano 49, 80131 Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: Valeria
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-8723-9505
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Costantino
authors.affiliation: Stazione Zoologica "A. Dohrn", Villa Comunale I, 80121 Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: Vincenzo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Saggiomo
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Chimica delle Sostanze Naturali, Università di Napoli Federico II, via D. Montesano 49, 80131 Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: Alfonso
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-3910-6518
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mangoni
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000737:chemistry; D002338:Carotenoids / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D003691:Delaware; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005399:Fishes; D057097:Harmful Algal Bloom; D058086:Microalgae / Q000737:chemistry*; D010860:Pigments, Biological / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D010860:Pigments, Biological; D002338:Carotenoids