For more Molecules stories,
visit www.sciencenews.org
Fifth form of chlorophyll discovered
Previously there were four known
chlorophylls made by plants and other
photosynthesizing organisms that generate oxygen: a, b, c and d. Chlorophyll a,
the chlorophyll’s carbon number two. the standard type, is found in photosyn-
Photosynthetic pigment’s family grows for first time in 60 years
By Rachel Ehrenberg
That chemical tweak allows the algaelike thesizers from algae to higher plants.
A ne w kind of chlorophyll that catches organism that makes chlorophyll f to con- It absorbs mostly blue light and red
sunlight from just beyond the red end of duct photosynthesis while living beneath light, reflecting green wavelengths to
the visible spectrum has been discovered, other photosynthesizers that capture all give leaves their hue. Chlorophylls b
extending the known range of light that is the other usable light. and c are found in fewer organisms and
usable by most photosynthetic organisms. “This is a very important new devel- absorb light in a similar range as chloro-
Harnessing this pigment’s power could opment and is the first new type of phyll a, but shifted a bit. Chlorophyll d,
lead to biofuel-generating algae that are chlorophyll discovered in an oxygenic found in a specific group of cyanobac-
superefficient, using a greater spread of organism in 60 years,” says biological teria, absorbs light most strongly at a
sunlight thanthought possible. chemist Robert Blankenship of Wash- slightly shorter wavelength than the
The newfound pigment, chlorophyll f, ington University in St. Louis. new chlorophyll.
absorbs light most efficiently at a wave- Molecular biologist Min Chen of the The find may enable scientists to
length just beyond the red end of the vis- University of Sydney in Australia and her engineer algae that are more efficient
ible light’s slice of the electromagnetic colleagues identified the new pigment in producers of biofuels, says algae biolo-
spectrum, researchers report online extracts from stromatolites, pillars of rock gist Krishna Niyogi of the University of
August 19 in Science. This absorbance andalgaethatcanforminshallow waters. California, Berkeley. Microbes bearing
appears to occur thanks to a chemical The samples were collected in the Hame- the new chlorophyll could soak up rays
decoration known as a formyl group on lin pool in Western Australia’s Shark Bay. that most microbes can’t use.
Go to http://www.rockauto.com
Go to http://www.rockauto.com
