植物中光合作用所需的特别色素（被称作叶绿素）可以收获阳光并将其转换成为化学能。在过去的60年中，人们已经发现了4种在化学上截然不同的叶绿素。 如今，科研人员揭示了第5种叶绿素（被称作叶绿素-f）。
他们是从生活在澳大利亚的鲨鱼湾（Shark Bay）的某个细菌菌落中提取到这种叶绿素的。 Min Chen及其同事说，这种新发现的叶绿素-f展现了一种比其它类型的叶绿素要更红得多的吸收光谱，其吸收光谱延伸到近红外的范围内，使得这种叶绿素成为迄今所发现的最红的叶绿素。
他们的发现提示，光合作用甚至可进一步延伸至红外波段。研究人员说，这可能在将来导向新型生物能源的应用。
生物谷推荐原文出处：
Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1191127
A Red-Shifted Chlorophyll
Min Chen,1,* Martin Schliep,1 Robert D. Willows,2 Zheng-Li Cai,3 Brett A. Neilan,4 Hugo Scheer1,5
Chlorophylls are essential for light-harvesting and energy transduction in photosynthesis. Four chemically distinct varieties have been known for the past 60 years. Here, we report isolation of a fifth, which we designate chlorophyll f. Its in vitro absorption (706 nm) and fluorescence (722 nm) maxima are red-shifted compared to all other chlorophylls from oxygenic phototrophs. Based on the optical, mass, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectra, we propose that chlorophyll f is [2-formyl]-chlorophyll a (C55H70O6N4Mg). This finding suggests that oxygenic photosynthesis can be extended further into the infrared region and may open associated bioenergy applications.
1 School of Biological Sciences, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
2 Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences, Macquarie University, NSW 2109, Australia.
3 School of Chemistry, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
4 School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Science, University of New South Wales, NSW 2052, Australia.
5 Department of Biology I, University of Munich, D-80638 Muenchen, Germany.
