PIGMENT COMPOSITION OF THE SCALY GREEN FLAGELLATE MESOSTIGMA-VIRIDE (MICROMONADOPHYCEAE) IS SIMILAR TO THAT OF THE SIPHONOUS GREEN-ALGA BRYOPSIS-PLUMOSA (ULVOPHYCEAE)

Pigments were isolated from Mesostigma viride Lauterborn by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography and compared to standards from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii Dang. and Bryopsis plumosa (Huds.) Ag. M. viride possesses chlorophylls a and b, alpha- and beta-carotenes, and the xanthophylls siphonaxanthin, siphonein, neoxanthin, violaxanthin and echinenone. In addition, three unidentified xanthophylls were detected. Neither lutein nor zeaxanthin were detected. The pigment composition of M. viride was similar to that of B. plumosa which had chlorophylls a and b, epsilon- and alpha-carotenes, siphonaxanthin, siphonein, neoxanthin, violaxanthin, and two of the unidentified xanthophylls found in M. viride. The similarities in the pigments of Mesostigma and Bryopsis and other characters suggest that Mesostigma may be related to a flagellate ancestor of the Ulvophyceae.