A Study of the Gametic Pigments of the Brown Alga Hormosira Banksii (Turner) Decaisne

Abstract

The study of plant pigments, especially chloroplast pigments, is a relatively old topic, but although it has been a research field for over a century, the picture is still far from complete, especially in the lower groups of the plant kingdom. Amongst the algae, the pigments of the Chlorophyta have received much attention in research on Photosynthesis. Euglenophycean pigments have been studied in relation to phototaxis, and pigments of the planktonic Chlorophyta, Bacillariophyta, Chrysophyta and Pyrrophyta have been determined in the course of studies on the movements and biological importance of marine planktonic populations. The Cyanophyta have been investigated to a certain extent because of their unique nature, but the Phaeophyta and Rhodophyta have received relatively less attention in recent years. The last major paper published on the occurrence and identification of Phaeophycean pigments was by Strain et.al. (1944) The topic has been almost entirely neglected since, and literature after this date consists mainly of reviews based on the results of these and previous workers.