DISTRIBUTION OF QUINONES IN SOME PHOTOSYNTHETIC BACTERIA AND ALGAE

The distribution and the concentration of quinones in 5 speciesof photosynthetic bacteria and 4 species of algae were investigated.The Athiorhodaceae, except for Rhodospirillum rubrum, containedubiquinone as the major quinone component. Rhodospirillum rubrumcontained two kinds of quinones, i.e. ubiquinone and rhodoquinone.Chromatium, strain D contained two kinds of quinones, i. e.ubiquinone and vitamin K₂. The green sulfur bacterium, Chloropseudomonasethylicum, contained vitamin K₂ and a Chlorobium quinone-likesubstance. The marine algae tested, Porphyra yezoensis, Porphyra sp. andHizikia fusiforme, contained vitamin K₁, plastoquinone A, -tocopherylquinoneand ubiquinone. In Chondrus ocellatus, the presence of a ubichromenol-likesubstance was detected instead of ubiquinone. Other types ofplastoquinone and tocopherylquinone were not found in thesealgae. In the thalli of Porphyra sp., vitamin K₁, plastoquinoneA and -tocopherylquinone were found to be localized in chloroplasts. ¹Present address: Department of Biophysics and Physical Biochemistry,Johnson Research Foundation, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia,Pennsylvania, U.S.A.