peridinin and fucoxanthin

After their endosymbiotic acquisition, plastids become intimately connected with the biology of their host. For example, genes essential for plastid function may be relocated from the genomes of plastids to the host nucleus, and pathways may evolve within the host to support the plastid. In this review, we consider the different degrees of integration observed in dinoflagellates and their associated plastids, which have been acquired through multiple different endosymbiotic events. Most dinoflagellate species possess plastids that contain the pigment peridinin and show extreme reduction and integration with the host biology. In some species, these plastids have been replaced through serial endosymbiosis with plastids derived from a different phylogenetic derivation, of which some have become intimately connected with the biology of the host whereas others have not. We discuss in particular the evolution of the fucoxanthin-containing dinoflagellates, which have adapted pathways retained from the ancestral peridinin plastid symbiosis for transcript processing in their current, serially acquired plastids. Finally, we consider why such a diversity of different degrees of integration between host and plastid is observed in different dinoflagellates and how dinoflagellates may thus inform our broader understanding of plastid evolution and function.

Topics: Alveolata; Carotenoids; Cell Nucleus; Chlorophyta; Chloroplasts; Dinoflagellida; Evolution, Molecular; Genome; Phylogeny; Plasmids; Plastids; Rhodophyta; Symbiosis; Xanthophylls

Fucoxanthin and its derivatives are the main light-harvesting pigments in the photosynthetic apparatus of many chromalveolate algae and represent the most abundant carotenoids in the world's oceans, thus being major facilitators of marine primary production. A central step in fucoxanthin biosynthesis that has been elusive so far is the conversion of violaxanthin to neoxanthin. Here, we show that in chromalveolates, this reaction is catalyzed by violaxanthin de-epoxidase-like (VDL) proteins and that VDL is also involved in the formation of other light-harvesting carotenoids such as peridinin or vaucheriaxanthin. VDL is closely related to the photoprotective enzyme violaxanthin de-epoxidase that operates in plants and most algae, revealing that in major phyla of marine algae, an ancient gene duplication triggered the evolution of carotenoid functions beyond photoprotection toward light harvesting.

Topics: Algal Proteins; Aquatic Organisms; Carotenoids; Chlorophyll A; Gene Expression Regulation; Light-Harvesting Protein Complexes; Oxidoreductases; Phaeophyceae; Phylogeny; Xanthophylls

Temperature change and eutrophication are known to affect phytoplankton communities, but relatively little is known about the effects of interactions between simultaneous changes of temperature and nutrient loading in coastal ecosystems. Here we show that such interaction is key in driving diatom-dinoflagellate dynamics in the East China Sea. Diatoms and dinoflagellates responded differently to temperature, nutrient concentrations and ratios, and their interactions. Diatoms preferred lower temperature and higher nutrient concentrations, while dinoflagellates were less sensitive to temperature and nutrient concentrations, but tended to prevail at low phosphorus and high N:P ratio conditions. These different traits of diatoms and dinoflagellates resulted in the fact that both the effect of warming resulting in nutrients decline as a consequence of increasing stratification and the effect of increasing terrestrial nutrient input as a result of eutrophication might promote dinoflagellates over diatoms. We predict that conservative forecasts of environmental change by the year 2100 are likely to result in the decrease of diatoms in 60% and the increase of dinoflagellates in 70% of the surface water of the East China Sea, and project that mean diatoms should decrease by 19% while mean dinoflagellates should increase by 60% in the surface water of the coastal East China Sea. This analysis is based on a series of statistical niche models of the consequences of multiple environmental changes on diatom and dinoflagellate biomass in the East China Sea based on 2815 samples randomly collected from 23 cruises spanning 14 years (2002-2015). Our findings reveal that dinoflagellate blooms will be more frequent and intense, which will affect coastal ecosystem functioning.

Topics: Biomass; Carotenoids; Diatoms; Dinoflagellida; Ecosystem; Eutrophication; Global Warming; Models, Theoretical; Nitrogen; Oceans and Seas; Phosphorus; Phytoplankton; Temperature; Xanthophylls

Peridinin and fucoxanthin, which are natural carotenoids isolated from a symbiotic dinoflagellate, Symbiodinium sp., and a brown alga, Petalonia fascia, respectively, were compared for inhibitory effects on delayed-type hypersensitivity in mice. The number of eosinophils at the site of inflammation and in peripheral blood was compared for the administration of peridinin and fucoxanthin applied by painting and intraperitoneally. Peridinin, but not the structurally-related fucoxanthin, significantly suppressed the number of eosinophils in both the ear lobe and peripheral blood. Furthermore, peridinin applied topically, but not administered intraperitoneally, suppressed the level of eotaxin in the ears of sensitized mice. Fucoxanthin weakly suppressed the concentration of eotaxin in ears only by intraperitoneal administration. Although both carotenoids inhibited the migration of eosinophils toward eotaxin, the inhibitory effect of peridinin was higher than that of fucoxanthin. Peridinin may be a potential agent for suppressing allergic inflammatory responses, such as atopic dermatitis, in which eosinophils play a major role in the increase of inflammation.

Topics: Administration, Topical; Animals; Carotenoids; Dinoflagellida; Eosinophilia; Eosinophils; Female; Inflammation; Injections, Intraperitoneal; Mice; Mice, Inbred BALB C; Mice, Inbred C3H; Mice, Transgenic; Phaeophyceae; Xanthophylls

The photophysical properties of a carbonyl-containing carotenoid analogue in an s-cis configuration, relative to the conjugated π system, 2-(all-trans-retinylidene)-indan-1,3-dione (C20Ind), were investigated by femtosecond time-resolved spectroscopy in various solvents. The lifetime of the optically forbidden S(1) state of C20Ind becomes long as solvent polarity increases. This trend is completely opposite to the situation of S(1-ICT) dynamics of carbonyl-containing carotenoids, such as peridinin and fucoxanthin. Excitation energy dependence of the transient absorption measurements shows that the transient absorption spectra in nonpolar solvents were originated from two distinct transient species, while those in polar and protic solvents are due to a single transient species. By referring to the results of MNDO-PSDCI (modified neglect of differential overlap with partial single- and double-configuration interaction) calculations, we conclude: (1) in polar and protic solvents, the S(1) state is generated following excitation up to the S(2) state; (2) in nonpolar solvents, however, both the S(1) and the (1)nπ* states are generated; and (3) C20Ind does not generate the S(1-ICT) state, despite the fact that it has two conjugated carbonyl groups.

Topics: Antioxidants; Carotenoids; Models, Molecular; Solvents; Spectrum Analysis; Xanthophylls

The interaction between physical and biological factors responsible for the cessation of ripple migration on a sandy intertidal flat was examined during a microalgal bloom period in late winter/early spring, as part of a wider study into the biostabilisation of intertidal sediments. Ripple positions and ripple geometry were monitored, and surface sediment was sampled, at weekly intervals over a 5-week period. Ripples remained in the same position for at least 4 weeks, during which time there was a progressive reduction in bedform height (smoothing) and deposition of some 1.5 cm sediment, mainly in the ripple troughs (surface levelling). The mean chlorophyll a (chl a) sediment content was 6.0 microg gDW(-1) (DW: dry weight) (0-1 mm depth fraction), with a maximum value of 7.4 microg gDW(-1) half way through the bloom. Mean colloidal-S carbohydrate (S: saline extraction) content was 131 microg GE gDW(-1) (GE: glucose equivalent) (0-1 mm), with a maximum of 261 microg GE gDW(-1 )towards the end of the bloom. Important accessory pigments were peridinin (indicative of dinophytes) and fucoxanthin (diatoms). Stepwise multiple regression showed that peridinin was the best predictor of chl a. For the first time, in situ evidence for the mediation of (wave) ripple migration by microalgae is provided. Results indicate that diatoms, and quite possibly dinophytes, can have a significant effect on intertidal flat ripple mobility on a temporal scale of weeks. In addition, microalgal effects appear capable of effecting a reduction in bed roughness on a spatial scale of up to 10(-2 )m, with a subsequent reduction in bottom stress and bed erodability. It is suggested that a unique combination of environmental conditions, in conjunction with the microalgal bloom(s), promoted the initial cessation of ripple movement, and that stationary-phase, diatom-derived extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) (and possibly dinophyte-derived EPS) may have prolonged the condition. It is reasonable to suppose that ripple stabilisation by similar processes may have contributed to ripple mark preservation in the geological record. A conceptual model of sandy intertidal flat processes is presented, illustrating two conditions: (i) a low EPS/microalgae sediment content with low ripple stabilisation and preservation potential; and (ii) a high EPS/microalgae content with higher preservation potential.

Topics: Carbohydrates; Carotenoids; Chlorophyll; Chlorophyll A; England; Environmental Microbiology; Eukaryota; Geologic Sediments; Water Movements; Xanthophylls; Zeaxanthins

Dinoflagellates are important aquatic primary producers and cause "red tides." The most widespread plastid (photosynthetic organelle) in these algae contains the unique accessory pigment peridinin. This plastid putatively originated via a red algal secondary endosymbiosis and has some remarkable features, the most notable being a genome that is reduced to 1-3 gene minicircles with about 14 genes (out of an original 130-200) remaining in the organelle and a nuclear-encoded proteobacterial Form II Rubisco. The "missing" plastid genes are relocated to the nucleus via a massive transfer unequaled in other photosynthetic eukaryotes. The fate of these characters is unknown in a number of dinoflagellates that have replaced the peridinin plastid through tertiary endosymbiosis. We addressed this issue in the fucoxanthin dinoflagellates (e.g., Karenia brevis) that contain a captured haptophyte plastid. Our multiprotein phylogenetic analyses provide robust support for the haptophyte plastid replacement and are consistent with a red algal origin of the chromalveolate plastid. We then generated an expressed sequence tag (EST) database of 5,138 unique genes from K. brevis and searched for nuclear genes of plastid function. The EST data indicate the loss of the ancestral peridinin plastid characters in K. brevis including the transferred plastid genes and Form II Rubisco. These results underline the remarkable ability of dinoflagellates to remodel their genomes through endosymbiosis and the considerable impact of this process on cell evolution.

Topics: Animals; Carotenoids; Cell Nucleus; Dinoflagellida; Evolution, Molecular; Expressed Sequence Tags; Genome; Phylogeny; Plastids; Rhodophyta; Ribulose-Bisphosphate Carboxylase; Symbiosis; Xanthophylls

Although most photosynthetic dinoflagellates have plastids with peridinin, the three dinoflagellate genera Karenia, Karlodinium, and Takayama possess anomalously pigmented plastids that contain fucoxanthin and its derivatives (19'-hexanoyloxy-fucoxanthin and 19'-butanoyloxy-fucoxanthin) instead of the peridinin. This pigment composition is similar to that of haptophytes. All peridinin-containing dinoflagellates investigated so far have at least two types of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH): cytosolic and plastid-targeted forms. In the present study, we cloned and sequenced genes encoding cytosolic and plastid-targeted GAPDH proteins from three species of the fucoxanthin derivative-containing dinoflagellates. Based on the molecular phylogeny, the plastid-targeted GAPDH genes of the fucoxanthin derivative-containing dinoflagellates were closely related to those of haptophyte algae rather than to the peridinin-containing dinoflagellates, while one of several cytosolic versions from the peridinin- and the fucoxanthin derivative-containing dinoflagellates are closely related to each other. Considering a previously reported theory that the plastid-targeted GAPDH from the peridinin-containing dinoflagellates originated by a gene duplication of the cytosolic form before the splitting of the dinoflagellate lineage, it is highly likely that the plastid-targeted GAPDH gene of the peridinin-containing dinoflagellates is original in this algal group and that in the fucoxanthin-containing dinoflagellates, the original plastid-targeted GAPDH was replaced by that of a haptophyte endosymbiont during a tertiary endosymbiosis. The present results strongly support the hypothesis that the plastids of the peridinin- and the fucoxanthin derivative-containing dinoflagellates are of separate origin.

Topics: Amino Acid Sequence; Animals; Carotenoids; Dinoflagellida; Glyceraldehyde-3-Phosphate Dehydrogenases; Molecular Sequence Data; Phylogeny; Plastids; Sequence Alignment; Xanthophylls

Along the Mexican coast, harmful algae blooms (HAB) have become more frequent, and therefore, there is an urgent need to establish monitoring programs to avoid the undesired consequences of HAB in human and natural ecosystems. In this work, we analyzed the pigment signatures and the species composition from phytoplankton samples to evaluate the utility of the specific pigment "fingerprints" in HAB monitoring programs. Vertical profiles from a coastal lagoon and temporal samples of a red tide occurring in a shrimp-culture pond and in a coastal zone were taken into consideration. Between 76% and 84% of dinoflagellate and diatom cell density was explained by their specific signature variation, in both vertical and temporal samples. Only the variation of zeaxanthin and the cyanobacteria Anabaena sp. showed a poor relationship, probably from difficulties in counting other cyanobacteria present in the samples examined with the microscopic method. These results suggest that inclusion of pigment analysis in the study and monitoring programs dealing with harmful algae would be very useful.

Topics: Animals; Carotenoids; Cyanobacteria; Diatoms; Dinoflagellida; Ecosystem; Environmental Monitoring; Eutrophication; Mexico; Phytoplankton; Seawater; Time Factors; Xanthophylls

The most widely distributed dinoflagellate plastid contains chlorophyll c(2) and peridinin as the major carotenoid. A second plastid type, found in taxa such as Karlodinium micrum and Karenia spp., contains chlorophylls c(1) + c(2) and 19'-hexanoyloxy-fucoxanthin and/or 19'-butanoyloxy-fucoxanthin but lacks peridinin. Because the presence of chlorophylls c(1) + c(2) and fucoxanthin is typical of haptophyte algae, the second plastid type is believed to have originated from a haptophyte tertiary endosymbiosis in an ancestral peridinin-containing dinoflagellate. This hypothesis has, however, never been thoroughly tested in plastid trees that contain genes from both peridinin- and fucoxanthin-containing dinoflagellates. To address this issue, we sequenced the plastid-encoded psaA (photosystem I P700 chlorophyll a apoprotein A1), psbA (photosystem II reaction center protein D1), and "Form I" rbcL (ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase) genes from various red and dinoflagellate algae. The combined psaA + psbA tree shows significant support for the monophyly of peridinin- and fucoxanthin-containing dinoflagellates as sister to the haptophytes. The monophyly with haptophytes is robustly recovered in the psbA phylogeny in which we increased the sampling of dinoflagellates to 14 species. As expected from previous analyses, the fucoxanthin-containing dinoflagellates formed a well-supported sister group with haptophytes in the rbcL tree. Based on these analyses, we postulate that the plastid of peridinin- and fucoxanthin-containing dinoflagellates originated from a haptophyte tertiary endosymbiosis that occurred before the split of these lineages. Our findings imply that the presence of chlorophylls c(1) + c(2) and fucoxanthin, and the Form I rbcL gene are in fact the primitive (not derived, as widely believed) condition in dinoflagellates.

Topics: Bacterial Proteins; Carotenoids; Membrane Proteins; Molecular Sequence Data; Photosynthetic Reaction Center Complex Proteins; Photosystem I Protein Complex; Phylogeny; Plastids; Rhodophyta; Symbiosis; Xanthophylls

Epidemiological investigations have shown that cancer risk is inversely related to the consumption of green and yellow vegetables and fruits. Since beta-carotene is present in abundance in these vegetables and fruits, it has been investigated extensively as a possible cancer-preventive agent. However, various carotenoids have also anti-carcinogenic activity. And we found that some of them, such as alpha-carotene, showed higher potency than beta-carotene to suppress carcinogenesis in animal experiments. Thus, we have carried out more extended studies on the cancer-preventive activities of natural carotenoids. For example, lutein, zeaxanthin, lycopene, phytoene, fucoxanthin, peridinin and astaxanthin seem to be promising. In the present study, we confirmed the anti-carcinogenic activities of fucoxanthin and peridinin. Among natural carotenoids, phytoene has not been evaluated precisely since it becomes unstable when it is purified. Here, the cancer-preventive activity of phytoene was demonstrated using new a biotechnological method; i.e., establishment of mammalian cells producing phytoene was followed by the introduction of crtB gene which encodes phytoene synthase, and these cells were proven to acquire the resistance against transformation imposed by transfection of activated oncogenes. Further studies on various natural carotenoids, besides beta-carotene, should be continued to get proper information regarding natural carotenoids in the field of cancer prevention.

Topics: 3T3 Cells; Animals; Anticarcinogenic Agents; Carotenoids; Male; Mice; Mice, Inbred C3H; Mice, Inbred ICR; Neoplasms, Experimental; Oncogenes; Transfection; Xanthophylls