ABSTRACT
Cyanobacteria, green algae, and higher plants are usually well studied in photosynthesis research, but our knowledge about all other eukaryotic photosynthetic algae is far less advanced. Evolutionarily, the eukaryotic phototrophs fall into four main groups: (1) glaucophytes, which, in a simplified view, resemble eukaryotic cells with a cyanobacterium within; (2) the red algae, which also contain phycobilisomes as major antenna complexes comparable to those of Cyanophyta; (3) the “green lineage,” comprising green alga, mosses, ferns, and higher plants, but also Euglenophyta and Chlorarachniophyta; and (4) a rather diverse group called chromalveolates. Members of the chromalveolates are cryptophytes, haptophytes, heterokonts (including, among others, brown algae and diatoms), as well as alveolates, which include the photosynthetic dinoflagellates (Dinophyta), and a newly discovered group, the Chromeridae. The current knowledge about light-harvesting systems in most of these groups is very limited, with by far the most research done in diatoms and dinoflagellates. In this chapter, a general overview about the pigments and the genes for antenna proteins will be given first, followed by the known light-harvesting systems of chromalveolates, with a special focus on cryptophytes, dinophytes, and diatoms.
