Development of Red Pigmentation in Chlorococcum wimmeri (Chlorophyta: Chlorococcales)

Abstract

The concentration of the red pigmentation in Chlorococcum wimmeri is primarily a function of light intensity, although it is enhanced by near red illumination and also influenced by carbon dioxide concentration. It is independent of cell age and of nitrate content, oxygen, and pH of the growth medium. The red pigmentation is composed of astacin, esterified astaxanthin, an unknown ester, and an allied carotenoid.Chlorococcum wimmeri possesses, on a chlorophyll basis, higher rates of photosynthesis and the quinone Hill reaction than Chlorella pyrenoidosa under the same conditions.