Apart from chlorophyll, algae have several other pigments in their chloroplast. What pigments are found in blue, green, red and brown algae, that are responsible for their characteristic colours?
Carotenoid and phycobilins are called accessory pigments since, the quanta (packets of light) absorbed by these pigments can be transferred to chlorophyll.
The diversity of light harvesting g pigments in alga implies that the common ancestor was Primitive and that no close affinity exist between blue, green, red, brown, golden brown green algae, to use their and common names.
The characteristic pigments of different classes are mentioned below
|
class |
Common name |
Major pigments |
|
Chlorophyceae Phaeophyceae
Rhodophyceae |
Green algae Brown algae
Red algae |
Chlorophyll-a and chlorophyll-b, Chlorophyll-a, chlorophyll-c, Fucoxanthin. Chlorophyll-a, chlorophyll-d. Phycoerythrin. |
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