Evolutionary origins and functions of the carotenoid biosynthetic pathway in marine diatoms.

ABSTRACT: Carotenoids are produced by all photosynthetic organisms, where they play essential roles in light harvesting and photoprotection. The carotenoid biosynthetic pathway of diatoms is largely unstudied, but is of particular interest because these organisms have a very different evolutionary history with respect to the Plantae and are thought to be derived from an ancient secondary endosymbiosis between heterotrophic and autotrophic eukaryotes. Furthermore, diatoms have an additional xanthophyll-based cycle for dissipating excess light energy with respect to green algae and higher plants. To explore the origins and functions of the carotenoid pathway in diatoms we searched for genes encoding pathway components in the recently completed genome sequences of two marine diatoms. Consistent with th

SUBMITTER: Coesel S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2483416 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature