Open AccessDistribution of bacteriochlorophyll homologs in natural populations of brown‐colored phototrophic sulfur bacteria
Author(s) -
Borrego C.M,
GarciaGil L.J,
Vila X,
Cristina X.P,
Figueras J.B,
Abella C.A
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
fems microbiology ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.377
H-Index - 155
eISSN - 1574-6941
pISSN - 0168-6496
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-6941.1997.tb00447.x
Subject(s) - bacteriochlorophyll , biology , pigment , sulfur , phototroph , bacteria , population , botany , photosynthesis , zoology , genetics , chemistry , demography , organic chemistry , sociology
The relative content of the four main bacteriochlorophyll (BChl) e homologs of several populations of brown‐colored photosynthetic sulfur bacteria grown in different waterbodies have been measured by high performance liquid chromatography and statistically compared by principal component analysis. All the studied populations possessed representative pigment patterns enriched in highly alkylated bacteriochlorophyll e homologs, with average contents of 0.02±0.01%, 24.92±1.01%, 35.2±0.70%, and 39.9±0.71% for bacteriochlorophyll e 1 , e 2 , e 3 , and e 4 , respectively. These values clearly differ from those obtained for the same species growing under optimal conditions in laboratory batch cultures (4.99±1.11%, 50.34±1.73%, 28.99±0.63%, and 15.6±1.10% for bacteriochlorophyll e 1 , e 2 , e 3 , and e 4 , respectively). Multivariate statistical analyses grouped samples into two main clusters, both related to the developmental state of the population. Within these clusters, samples were arranged in several groups according to the physiological pigment response of bacterial populations to light limitation. Although bacteriochlorophyll homolog distribution cannot be considered a real taxonomic character, the data presented demonstrate that it can be useful in field studies since it reflects both the physiological status of the cells and the light regime under which the population has been growing.