Publications by authors named "Paul Buschbeck"
Article Synopsis
- Fucoxanthin is a key pigment in marine phytoplankton that absorbs blue-green light, which is essential for their photosynthesis, unlike land plants which mainly use chlorophylls.
- Researchers identified CRTISO5 as the critical enzyme responsible for fucoxanthin synthesis in diatoms, revealing that it acts differently from its land plant counterpart by converting a different carotenoid into fucoxanthin.
- The study highlights the evolutionary significance of this enzyme and its potential applications in biocatalysis, demonstrating how functional adaptations can lead to diversity in photosynthetic mechanisms among marine organisms.
Green diatom mutants reveal an intricate biosynthetic pathway of fucoxanthin.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
September 2022
Fucoxanthin is a major light-harvesting pigment in ecologically important algae such as diatoms, haptophytes, and brown algae (Phaeophyceae). Therefore, it is a major driver of global primary productivity. Species of these algal groups are brown colored because the high amounts of fucoxanthin bound to the proteins of their photosynthetic machineries enable efficient absorption of green light.
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