The pigment composition of six species of Tetraselmis (Prasinophyceae) was analyzed using improved HPLC methods. All pigment extracts showed three peaks corresponding to unknown carotenoids. The isolated pigments were analyzed using UV-Vis spectroscopy, electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), and when carotenoid esters were suspected, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) of the methyl ester and dimethyloxazoline derivative of the corresponding fatty acid. The new pigments were determined to be loroxanthin, loroxanthin 19-(2-decenoate), and loroxanthin 19-(2-dodecenoate); this is the first time these pigments have been described in the genus Tetraselmis. Moreover, this is the first report of esterification of 2-decenoic acid to loroxanthin. The relative contents of these pigments depended on the light regime, with the lowest proportions measured at the highest photon flux density assayed. The implications of the identification of these pigments in the genus Tetraselmis for the pigment types previously described in the class Prasinophyceae are discussed.
Keywords: 2-decenoic acid; Prasinophyceae; Tetraselmis; carotenoids; loroxanthin; loroxanthin esters; mass spectrometry.
© 2009 Phycological Society of America.