PIGMENTS OF THE DINOFLAGELLATE <i>PERIDINIUM BALTICUM</i> AND ITS PHOTOSYNTHETIC ENDOSYMBIONT¹

Abstract

ABSTRACT An examination of the pigments of the binucleate dinoflagellate Peridinium balticum (Levander) Lemmerman revealed the presence of chlorophylls a, c 1 and c 2 and the carotenoids: fucoxanthin (most abundant), diadinoxanthin, diatoxanthin, an unidentified fucoxanthin‐like xanthophyll, β‐carotene, γ‐carotene and astaxanthin. A comparison of the pigments of P. balticum and P. foliaceum (Stein) Biecheler, also a binucleate dinoflagellate, demonstrated similar compositions. However P. balticum lacked the β‐carotene precursors (e.g. phytoene) which accumulated outside the chloroplast in P. foliaceum. This study indicates that P. balticum and P. foliaceum are closely related; each species is a heterotrophic dinoflagellate with a photosynthetic endosymbiont taxonomically affiliated with the Chrysophyta (Chrysophyceae or Bacillariophyceae).