.<\/em><\/p>\nHow land and deep sea plants perform differently<\/h3>\n Land plants mainly absorb red and blue light from the sun and use it for photosynthesis. However, only weak blue-green light reaches the ocean floor. Therefore, macroalgae growing in the ocean have developed a protein, a so-called photosynthetic antenna, that efficiently utilises this blue-green light.<\/p>\n
The photosynthetic antenna of marine macroalgae is very similar to that of land plants, but differs in the structure of the pigments bound to it. Land plants have two types of pigments bound to their photosynthetic antennae, namely carotenoids and chlorophylls.<\/p>\n
In the marine green macroalga\u00a0Codium fragile<\/em>, the major carotenoids are substituted with siphonaxanthin while some chlorophyll\u00a0a\u00a0<\/em>molecules are replaced by chlorophyll\u00a0b\u00a0<\/em>molecules.<\/p>\nSiphonaxanthin and chlorophyll\u00a0b<\/em>\u00a0are known to contribute to increased absorption of green light and blue-green light, respectively, but how this contributes to photosynthesis has not yet been fully understood.<\/p>\nWhat did the research show?<\/h3>\n High-resolution analysis by cryogenic electron microscopy showed that siphonaxanthin (SCP) in\u00a0C. fragile\u00a0<\/em>is greatly distorted and forms hydrogen bonds with the surrounding protein at two locations. This structural feature is deemed a key factor in siphonaxanthin\u2019s ability to absorb green light.<\/p>\nSCP has a trimeric structure, wherein each monomer containing two lutein and two chlorophyll\u00a0a<\/em>\u00a0molecules in the plant-type LHCII are replaced by siphonaxanthin and its ester and two chlorophyll\u00a0b<\/em>\u00a0molecules, respectively.<\/p>\nAdditionally, the researchers successfully detected the difference between chlorophyll\u00a0a<\/em>\u00a0and chlorophyll\u00a0b<\/em>, and they clarified several chlorophyll molecule substitution sites. When the substitution occurs, the adjacent region of chlorophyll\u00a0b<\/em>\u00a0clusters becomes wider, enabling better absorption of blue-green light.<\/p>\nIn other words, the team was able to obtain information on the pigment coordinates, contributing to a better understanding of the mechanism of more efficient photosynthesis.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think increasing the utilisation of photosynthesis simply by changing the pigment structure would be a cost-effective strategy,\u201d concluded Professor Fujii.<\/p>\n
\u201cLearning such survival strategies of organisms would lead to improved use of sunlight and the development of renewable energy sources for human beings.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Plants on land grow by using sunlight to perform photosynthesis, but how do algae photosynthesise in the deep sea, where sunlight is limited?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":28273,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24429],"tags":[3475],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
How do deep sea plants perform photosynthesis?<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n