Photosynthetic Pigments

Pigments are substances that absorb certain wavelengths of visible light. When a pigment is shone white light, the wavelengths that arent absorbed by the pigments, is reflected back, thus giving it its characteristic colour. If all of the wavelengths are absorbed, it appears black. The wavelengths that are absorbed by various pigments can be shown on an absorption spectrum. Photosynthetic Pigments are classed into three different types; Carotenoids, Chlorophylls and Phycobilins which are water soluble pigments found only in cyanobacteria. Carotenoids are pigments that are orange in colour because they absorb violet and green-light. Their function is photoprotection: They protect the chlorophyll from damage by absorbing the excessive light energy that would otherwise react with oxygen to form free radicals that are dangerous to the cell. A common example of Carotenoids is -carotene which gives carrots their characteristic colour. Carotenoids cannot transfer their absorbed energy directly to the photosynthetic pathway. They pass on their absorbed energy to chloroplasts, which is why they are called accessory pigments. There are two main types of Carotenoids; Carotenes and Xanthophylls. Their basic structure is made up of two hydrocarbon rings joined together by a chain of unsaturated hydrocarbon chain. Oxidised carotenes (they have oxygen) are called Xanthophylls.

Phycobilins are water soluble pigments found only cyanobacteria and rhodophyta. There are two types; Phyocyanin (found in cyanobacteria) and Phycoerythrin (found in red algae). The red pigment absorbs blue and green wavelengths of light and the energy is then transferred to chlorophyll. This is necessary because the deeper the red alga lives, the more light is filtered through greenish waters. The plants have adapted to absorb the green light.

Photosynthetic Pigments

Chlorophylls are the most important of all pigments. There are a several different types of chlorophylls, but chlorophylls a and b are the most common ones. All Chlorophylls have the same basic structure. They comprise of a Porphyrin ring, consisting of four Pyrrol rings, which is then connected to a long chain of CH bonds (called a Phytol chain). This tail is hydrophobic and is embedded in the thylakoid membrane. The Porphyrin ring however is hydrophilic and is located on the membrane surface. Located in the centre of the Porphyrin is the Magnesium atom. Chlorophyll a, in comparison to chlorophyll b, has one double bond missing in its Pyrrol ring. This slight difference in its structure causes the two pigments to absorb different wavelengths. Chlorophyll a is the most abundant pigment in plants and absorbs light with wavelengths 430nm and 662nm. Chlorophyll b absorbs light of 453nm and 642nm.

Sources: http://www.food-info.net/images/chlorophyll.gif http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/diary/450px-Beta-carotene.png http://www.life.illinois.edu/govindjee/photosynBook/Chapter9.pdf http://www2.mcdaniel.edu/Biology/botf99/photo/p3igments.html http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/glossary/gloss3/pigments.html Kennedy E., AubussonBiology in Context: The Spectrum of Life 3rd Edition Toole G. (1999) New Understanding Biology for Advanced Level Fourth Edition pp.274275 Reece J.B , Urry L.A, Cain M.L, Wasserman S.A, Minorsky P.V, Jackson R.B (2010) Campbell Biology (9th Edition)