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Carotenoids of purple nonsulfur bacteria

Composition and biosynthesis of the carotenoids of some strains of Rhodopseudomonas acidophila, Rhodospirillum tenue, and Rhodocyclus purpureus

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Summary

The carotenoid composition of some recently isolated new species of purple nonsulfur bacteria was investigated. All of the investigated R. tenue and R. purpureus strains and three of the R. acidophila strains synthesize the components of the rhodopinal series. It was shown that spirilloxanthin was present in all strains of R. acidophila; in three R. acidophila strains a very small amount of β-carotene was found. Large amounts of the glucosides of rhodopin and rhodopinal were isolated from the cells of seven R. acidophila strains. Some taxonomic aspects are discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Mikrobiologie der GSF, Göttingen

    Karin Schmidt

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  1. Karin Schmidt
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Schmidt, K. Carotenoids of purple nonsulfur bacteria. Archiv. Mikrobiol. 77, 231–238 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00408115

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00408115

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