Study on the determination of algal class's contributions to total-chlorophyll concentration from characteristic carotenoids of algal classes.

1993 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

• Project/Area Number: 03640560
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for General Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: 生態学
• Research Institution: National Institute for Environmental Studies
• Principal Investigator: KOHATA Kunio National Institute for Environmental Studies Regional Environment Division Senior Researcher, 地域環境研究グループ, 主任研究員 (30132848)
• Project Period (FY): 1991 – 1993
• Keywords: carotenoid / chlorophyll a / chlorophyll a contribution / high-performance liquid chromatography / HPLC / photosynthetic pigments / phytoplankton

Research Abstract

Algal photosynthetic pigments, chlorophyll (Chl) a, Chl c and carotenoids were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). A reversed-phase HPLC method was developed by optimizing a solvent system for the highly sensitive determination of algal pigments in marine in situ samples. The proposed HPLC system can handle injection volumes grater than 400 mul without a significant loss in the resolution between chlorophyllide a and chlorophyll c_1+c_2. The system also reduces the sample volumes required for the analysis of typical pigments of oligotrophic sea water to 500 ml. Carotenoids characteristic to algal classes such as the Bacillariophyceae, Dinophyceae, Haptophyceae, Cryptophyceae, and Raphidophyceae were analyzed by multiple regression analysis to obtain Chl a contributions of the algal classes to total Chl a. The Chl a contributions of diatoms, raphidophycean flagellates, and dinoflagellates were compared with those calculated from cell counts and observed cell sizes ; there was a good correlation for the estimated algal-classes abundances between pigment and cell count.