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Signature pigments of green sulfur bacteria in lower Pleistocene deposits from the Banyoles lacustrine area (Spain)

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dc.creator Mallorquí, Noemí
dc.creator Arellano, Juan B.
dc.creator Borrego, Carles M.
dc.creator García-Gil, L. Jesús
dc.date 2008-04-16T08:25:42Z
dc.date 2008-04-16T08:25:42Z
dc.date 2005-08
dc.date.accessioned 2017-01-31T01:02:25Z
dc.date.available 2017-01-31T01:02:25Z
dc.identifier Journal of Paleolimnology
dc.identifier (2005) 34:271-280
dc.identifier http://hdl.handle.net/10261/3604
dc.identifier 10.1007/s10933-005-3731-3
dc.identifier.uri http://dspace.mediu.edu.my:8181/xmlui/handle/10261/3604
dc.description Signature pigments of photosynthetic green sulfur bacteria (GSB) were found in ancient sediments collected from an abandoned clay quarry located in the Banyoles lacustrine area (Spain). The sediments belong to the Interglacial Waalian of the lower Pleistocene (0.7–1.5 millions years old) and were deposited after a marshy event occurring during that geologic period. Reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) analyses of acetone:methanol sediment extracts revealed that the main pigments found were carotenoids of both eukaryotic and prokaryotic photosynthetic organisms. In particular, isorenieratene (Isr) and β-isorenieratene (β-Isr) constituted the larger bacterial fraction (35–40% of the total carotenoid content), whereas okenone, a signature pigment of purple sulfur bacteria, accounted for less than 2%. Xanthophylls from oxygenic photosynthetic organisms accounted for the remaining carotenoids. Likewise, traces of degradation products of both bacteriochlorophyll (BChl) and chlorophyll (Chl) were also detected. The low concentration of Chl degradation products made proper identification of these compounds impossible. In contrast, degradation products of BChl-e such as bacteriochlorophyllide-e and bacteriopheophorbide-e were identified in the HPLC analyses, suggesting that chemical degradation of naturally occurring BChl aggregates of GSB was slower in the clay quarry sediments. The presence of signature pigments of brown-colored species of GSB (Isr, β-Isr and degradation products of BChl-e) in the sediments suggests an ancient aquatic environment where GSB were present and where episodes of sulfide-rich anoxia reaching the photic zone could be envisaged. Similarly, the large percentage of algal xanthophylls supports that algae could be an important part of the microbial photosynthetic community in this ancient ecosystem.
dc.description EU. TMR Program, Contract No. FMRXCT96-0081.
dc.description Peer reviewed
dc.format 345448 bytes
dc.format application/pdf
dc.language eng
dc.publisher Springer
dc.relation http://www.springerlink.com/content/r840q3343q64q80w/?p=89792b62b0cf4c8fad2087536c584dcf&pi=9
dc.rights openAccess
dc.subject Bacteriochlorophyll e
dc.subject Biomarkers
dc.subject Green sulfur bacteria
dc.subject Isorenieratene
dc.subject Paleolimnology
dc.subject Sediments
dc.subject Xanthophylls
dc.title Signature pigments of green sulfur bacteria in lower Pleistocene deposits from the Banyoles lacustrine area (Spain)
dc.type Artículo


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