Chlorophyll d explained

Chlorophyll d (Chl d) is a form of chlorophyll, identified by Harold Strain and Winston Manning in 1943.^[1] It was unambiguously identified in Acaryochloris marina in the 1990s.^[2] It is present in cyanobacteria which use energy captured from sunlight for photosynthesis.^[3] Chl d absorbs far-red light, at 710 nm wavelength, just outside the optical range.^[4] An organism that contains Chl d is adapted to an environment such as moderately deep water, where it can use far red light for photosynthesis,^[5] although there is not a lot of visible light.^[6]

Chl d is produced from chlorophyllide d by chlorophyll synthase. Chlorophyllide d is made from chlorophyllide a, but the oxygen-using enzyme that performs this conversion remains unknown as of 2022.^[7]

Notes and References

1. Manning WM, Strain HH . Chlorophyll d, a green pigment of red algae. . Journal of Biological Chemistry . November 1943 . 151 . 1 . 1–9 . 10.1016/S0021-9258(18)72109-1 . free .
2. Anthony W.D. . Larkum . Michael . Kühl . vanc . Chlorophyll d: the puzzle resolved . Trends in Plant Science . 10 . 8 . 355–7 . August 2005 . 10.1016/j.tplants.2005.06.005 . 16019251 . 2014-11-17 . 2012-03-13 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120313121156/http://www.mbl.ku.dk/mkuhl/pages/PDF/Larkum%26Kuhl_2005.pdf . dead .
3. Web site: Photosynthetic Pigments. University of California Museum of Paleontology .
4. Web site: Scientists discover first new chlorophyll in 60 years. PHYS ORG. August 20, 2010.
5. News: Researchers decode genetics of chlorophyll d. News Medical Life Sciences. AZO Network.
6. Web site: Chlorophyll d . Biology Online. 7 October 2019.
7. Tsuzuki . Yuki . Tsukatani . Yusuke . Yamakawa . Hisanori . Itoh . Shigeru . Fujita . Yuichi . Yamamoto . Haruki . Effects of Light and Oxygen on Chlorophyll d Biosynthesis in a Marine Cyanobacterium Acaryochloris marina . Plants . 29 March 2022 . 11 . 7 . 915 . 10.3390/plants11070915. 35406896 . 9003380 . free .