Photosynthetic Pigments: Chlorophylls, Carotenoids, and Phycobilins
Photosynthetic Pigments: Chlorophylls, Carotenoids, and Phycobilins
This chapter examines the primary photosynthetic pigments used in absorbing photosynthetically active radiation, which include chlorophylls, carotenoids, and phycobilins—with chlorophyll representing the dominant photosynthetic pigment. Although a greater amount of chlorophyll is found on land, 75% of the annual global turnover occurs in oceans, lakes, and rivers/estuaries. All of the light-harvesting pigments are bound to proteins making up distinct carotenoid and chlorophyll-protein complexes. The chapter considers the chemistry and application of these very important chemical biomarkers and discusses their limitations in aquatic systems. The matrix factorization program CHEMical TAXonomy (CHEMTAX) was introduced to calculate the relative abundance of major algal groups based on concentrations of diagnostic pigments and is also discussed.
Keywords: photosynthetically active radiation, photosynthetic pigments, biomarkers, chlorophylls, carotenoids, phycobilins, CHEMical TAXonomy
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