Abstract
Diatoms contribute around 40% of the photosynthetic carbon fixation in the oceans, making them one of the most important photosynthetic groups on this planet. Recently, isolation of photosynthetic protein complexes from diatoms that are relatively easy to grow under laboratory conditions had been succeeded. However, one of the most cosmopolitan diatoms, Thalassiosira pseudonana, whose whole genome has been sequenced, has not been caracterized. Therefore, we initiated isolation, purification, and characterization of their photosynthetic complexes. In this study, T. pseudonana was grown on modified f/2 artificial sea water media to, while natural sea water has typically been used. The cultures were harvested and were then ruptured to isolate thylakoid membranes. The thylakoids were n-dodecyl-β-D-maltoside solubilized and then subjected to sucrose density gradient ultracentrifugation to separate the photosynthetic complexes (Fucoxanthin-chlorophyll proteins, Photosystem I, and Photosystem II). Here we report both pigments analyses by HPLC and protein identification using Mass spectrometry.
