title: Chlorophyll catabolites in conditioned media of green microalgaDesmodesmus subspicatus.
abstract: Although the appearance of coloured chlorophyll degradation products of higher plants is well known, knowledge about such compounds produced and released particularly by planktonic algae is still limited. Colourless conditioned media (CM) obtained from autotrophic cultures of unicellular green algaDesmosdemus subspicatusturn red after acidification. The accumulation of red pigments in the medium and the growth rate of algae were inversely correlated. The red, crude solution isolated from CM by dialysis and ion exchange chromatography, and next purified by means of high-performance liquid chromatography, appeared to be a mixture of three compounds with characteristic UV/VIS absorption maxima near 330 and 505 nm. Electrospray ionization (ESI) mass spectrometry analysis revealed that the molecular mass of the most polar and most abundant compound was 637 Da and molecular masses of two other ones were 641 and 607 Da. Addition of15N isotope to the culture medium and subsequent mass spectrometry measurements revealed the occurrence of four nitrogen atoms per each molecule. The data suggest that red pigments isolated from algal-conditioned media are chlorophyll degradation compounds, the production of which depends on light intensity, and are released mainly during the stationary phase of growth.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Physiology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Biology, University of Gdańsk, Wita Stwosza 59, 80-308 Gdańsk, Poland.
authors.forename: Krzysztof
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Grabski
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Physiology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Biology, University of Gdańsk, Wita Stwosza 59, 80-308 Gdańsk, Poland.
authors.forename: Natalia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Baranowski
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Biology, University of Gdańsk, Wita Stwosza 59, 80-308 Gdańsk, Poland.
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Skórko-Glonek
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Physiology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Biology, University of Gdańsk, Wita Stwosza 59, 80-308 Gdańsk, Poland.
authors.forename: Zbigniew
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Tukaj
keywords: Chlorophyll catabolites; Conditioned medium; Desmodesmus; Green algae; Red pigments