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Chlorophyll b is made by the same enzyme acting on chlorophyllide b. The same is known for chlorophyll d and f, both made from corresponding chlorophyllides ultimately made from chlorophyllide a. [39] In Angiosperm plants, the later steps in the biosynthetic pathway are light-dependent. Such plants are pale if grown in darkness.
The tiny marine cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus, discovered in 1986, forms today part of the base of the ocean food chain and accounts for more than half the photosynthesis of the open ocean [23] and an estimated 20% of the oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere. [24]
Chlorophyll a is found in all chloroplasts, as well as their cyanobacterial ancestors. Chlorophyll a is a blue-green pigment [149] partially responsible for giving most cyanobacteria and chloroplasts their color. Other forms of chlorophyll exist, such as the accessory pigments chlorophyll b, chlorophyll c, chlorophyll d, [12] and chlorophyll f.
Chlorella, too, was found by scientists in the 1960s to be impossible for humans and other animals to digest in its natural state due to the tough cell walls encapsulating the nutrients, which presented further problems for its use in American food production. [8]
Chlorophyll a, b, and d. Chlorophyll synthase [14] completes the biosynthesis of chlorophyll a by catalysing the reaction EC 2.5.1.62. chlorophyllide a + phytyl diphosphate chlorophyll a + diphosphate. This forms an ester of the carboxylic acid group in chlorophyllide a with the 20-carbon diterpene alcohol phytol.
The concentration of chlorophyll A is used as an index of phytoplankton biomass. In the ocean, phytoplankton all contain the chlorophyll pigment, which has a greenish color. Phytoplankton are microscopic organisms that live in watery environments and changes in the amount of phytoplankton indicate the change in productivity of the ocean.
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In the ocean, they provide a crucial source of food to many small and large aquatic organisms, such as bivalves, fish, and baleen whales. Marine plankton include bacteria , archaea , algae , protozoa , microscopic fungi , [ 4 ] and drifting or floating animals that inhabit the saltwater of oceans and the brackish waters of estuaries .