The Phycobilin Signatures of Chloroplasts From Three Dinoflagellate Species: A Microanalytical Study of Dinophysis Caudata, D. Fortii, and D. Acuminata (Dinophysiales, Dinophyceae)

The absorbance and fluorescence emission spectra for three species of Dinophysis, D. caudata Saville‐Kent, D. fortii Pavillard, and D. acuminata Claparède et Lachmann, were obtained through an in vivo microanalytical technique using a new type of transparent filter. The pigment signatures of these Dinophysis species were compared to those of Synechococcus Nägeli, a cryptophyte, and two wild rhodophytes, as well as those of another dinoflagellate, a diatom, and a chlorophyte. Phycobilins are not considered a native protein group for dinoflagellates, yet the absorption and fluorescence properties of the three Dinophysis species were demonstrated to closely resemble phycobilins and chlorophylls of Rhodomonas Karsten (Cryptophyceae). Analyses of Dinophysis species using epifluorescence microscopy found no additional nucleus or nuclear remnant as would be contributed by an endosymbiont.