PMID: 9427675Jan 15, 1998Paper

Processing of defensive pigment in Aplysia californica: acquisition, modification and mobilization of the red algal pigment, r-phycoerythrin by the digestive gland

The Journal of Experimental Biology
L Coelho, j

Abstract

The marine snail Aplysia californica obtains its purple defensive ink exclusively from the accessory photosynthetic pigment r-phycoerythrin, which is found in the red seaweeds of its diet. The rhodoplast digestive cell, one of three types of cell lining the tubules of the digestive gland, appears to be the site of catabolism of red algal chloroplasts (rhodoplasts) since thylakoid membranes, including phycobilisome-sized membrane-associated particles, were found within the large digestive vacuoles of this cell. Immunogold localization showed that there was a statistically significant occurrence of the red algal phycobilisome pigment r-phycoerythrin within these rhodoplast digestive vacuoles, but not in other compartments of this cell type (endoplasmic reticulum, mitochondria, nucleus) or in other tissues (abdominal ganglion). Immunogold analysis also suggested that the rhodoplast vacuole is the site for additional modification of r-phycoerythrin, which makes it non-antigenic: the chromophore is either cleaved from its biliprotein or the biliprotein is otherwise modified. The hemolymph had spectrographic absorption maxima typical of the protein-free chromophore (phycoerythrobilin) and/or r-phycoerythrin, but only when the animal ...Continue Reading

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