Abstract
THE red algae (Rhodophyta), which like cyanobacteria have only chlorophyll a and use phycobilisomes for light-harvesting1,2, are often considered to have originated independently of other photosynthetic eukaryotes, namely the chlorophyll a/b-containing Chlorophyta and the chlorophyll a/c-containing Chromophyta3. Here we report that the red alga Porphyridium cruentum has a chlorophyll a-containing antenna complex functionally associated with photosystem I, and that polypeptides of this antenna complex are immunologically related to those of higher-plant chlorophyll a/b complexes and to those of chromophyte fucoxanthin–chlorophyll a/c antenna complexes. This establishes a clear link between organisms containing phycobilisomes and those containing chlorophyll-based light-harvesting complexes and shows that these antennae can coexist in the same organism. Furthermore, it suggests that the light-harvesting proteins of all photosynthetic eukaryotes had a common origin and supports the idea that chloroplasts had a common ancestor4–6.
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Wolfe, G., Cunningham, F., Durnfordt, D. et al. Evidence for a common origin of chloroplasts with light-harvesting complexes of different pigmentation. Nature 367, 566–568 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1038/367566a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/367566a0
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