Pigment variations in Emiliania huxleyi (CCMP370) as a response to changes in light intensity or quality

Summary Many studies on photoacclimation examine the pigment responses to changes in light intensity, but variations in light climate in the aquatic environment are also related to changes in spectral composition. We have employed a high‐performance liquid chromatography method with improved resolution towards chlorophyll c and fucoxanthin‐related xanthophylls to examine the pigment composition of Emiliania huxleyi CCMP 370 under different light intensities and spectral qualities. To maintain its photosynthetic performance, E. huxleyi CCMP370 promotes drastic pigment changes that can be either the interconversion of pigments in pools with the same basic chromophoric structure (Fucoxanthin type or chlorophyll c type), or the ex novo synthesis (Diatoxanthin). These changes are linked either to variations in light quality (Fucoxanthin related xanthophylls) or in light intensity (chlorophyll c3/Monovinyl chlorophyll c3, Diadinoxanthin/Diatoxanthin, β,ɛ−carotene/ β,β‐carotene). Fucoxanthin and 19′‐hexanoyloxyfucoxanthin proportions were highly dependent on spectral conditions. Whereas Fucoxanthin dominated in green and red light, 19′‐hexanoyloxyfucoxanthin prevailed under blue spectral conditions. Our results suggest that the huge pigment diversity enhanced the photoacclimative capacities of E. huxleyi to efficiently perform under changing light environments. The ubiquity and success in the global ocean as well as the capacity of E. huxleyi to form large surface blooms might be associated to the plasticity described here.