Takahiro Wakahama, Aitor Laza-Martinez, Ahmad Iskandar Bin Haji Mohd Taha, Hidetoshi Okuyama, Kiyohito Yoshida, Kazuhiro Kogame, Koichiro Awai, Masanobu Kawachi, Takashi Maoka, Shinichi Takaichi
JOURNAL OF PHYCOLOGY 48 (6) 1392 - 1402 0022-3646 2012/12
[Refereed][Not invited] The molecular structure of the carotenoid lactoside P457, (3S,5R,6R,3'S,5'R,6'S)-13'-cis-5,6-epoxy-3',5'-dihydroxy-3-(beta-d-galactosyl-(1?4)-beta-d-glucosyl)oxy-6',7'-didehydro-5,6,7,8,5',6'-hexahydro-beta,beta-caroten-20-al, was confirmed by spectroscopic methods using Symbiodinium sp. strain NBRC 104787 cells isolated from a sea anemone. Among various algae, cyanobacteria, land plants, and marine invertebrates, the distribution of this unique diglycosyl carotenoid was restricted to free-living peridinin-containing dinoflagellates and marine invertebrates that harbor peridinin-containing zooxanthellae. Neoxanthin appeared to be a common precursor for biosynthesis of peridinin and P457, although neoxanthin was not found in peridinin-containing dinoflagellates. Fucoxanthin-containing dinoflagellates did not possess peridinin or P457; green dinoflagellates, which contain chlorophyll a and b, did not contain peridinin, fucoxanthin, or P457; and no unicellular algae containing both peridinin and P457, other than peridinin-containing dinoflagellates, have been observed. Therefore, the biosynthetic pathways for peridinin and P457 may have been coestablished during the evolution of dinoflagellates after the host heterotrophic eukaryotic microorganism formed a symbiotic association with red alga that does not contain peridinin or P457.