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LIPOPHILIC PIGMENTS FROM CYANOBACTERIAL (BLUE‐GREEN ALGAL) AND DIATOM MATS IN HAMELIN POOL, SHARK BAY, WESTERN AUSTRALIA 1
Author(s) -
Palmisano Anna C.,
Summons Roger E.,
Cronin Sonja E.,
Des Marais David J.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
journal of phycology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.85
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1529-8817
pISSN - 0022-3646
DOI - 10.1111/j.0022-3646.1989.00655.x
Subject(s) - biology , microbial mat , diatom , botany , cyanobacteria , chlorophyll a , algae , chlorophyta , photoprotection , fucoxanthin , intertidal zone , lyngbya , bay , algal mat , photosynthesis , ecology , oceanography , bacteria , geology , paleontology
Lipophilic pigments were examined in microbial mat communities dominated by cyanobacteria in the intertidal zone and by diatoms in the subtidal and sublittoral zones of Hamelin Pool, Shark Bay, Western Australia. These microbial mats have evolutionary significance because of their similarity to lithified stromatolites from the Proterozoic and Early Paleozoic eras. Fucoxanthin, diatoxanthin, diadinoxanthin, β‐carotene, and chlorophylls a and c characterized the diatom mats, whereas cyanobacterial mats contained myxoxanthophyll zeaxanthin, echinenone, β‐carotene, chlorophyll a and, in some cases, sheath pigment. The presence of bacteriochlorophyll a with in the mats suggest a close association of photosynthetic bacteria with diatoms and cyanobacteria. The high carotenoids: chlorophyll a ratios (0.84–2.44 wt/wt) in the diatom mats suggest that carotenoids served a photoprotective function in this high light environment. By contrast, cyanobacterial sheath pigment may have largely supplanted the photoprotective role of carotenoids in the intertidal mats.