Studying Photosynthetic Pigments Using TLC Strips to Determine Evolutionary Relatedness Between Cyanobacteria, Rhodophyta, Phaeophyta, Chlorophyta and Angiosperms

Essay by nooribrahimUniversity, Bachelor's March 2012

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Studying Photosynthetic Pigments Using TLC Strips to Determine Evolutionary Relatedness Between Cyanobacteria, Rhodophyta, Phaeophyta, Chlorophyta and Angiosperms

Introduction

Many organisms around the world go through the process of photosynthesis. They include organisms such as prokaryotes and eukaryotes, specifically algae (eukaryotes) and cyanobacteria (prokaryotes). In order for eukaryotes to be able to go through the process photosynthesis, there must be an evolutionary relationship between the two. There is strong evidence through photosynthetic pigments that suggest that red, green, and brown algae have evolved from Cyanobacteria (biology 108 lab manual, 2012). The objective of this experiment is to find evolutionary relatedness between Cyanobacteria, Rhodophyta, Phaeophyta, Chlorophyta and Angiosperms. Supporting the idea that prokaryotes descended from eukaryotes. We plan to do this by using TLC strips to show us the separated photosynthetic pigments of the organisms. What we expect to find is evidence that supports the fact that eukaryotes did in fact descend from prokaryotes due to the process of endosymbiosis, which is supported by the presence of chlorophyll a in the marine species, angiosperms and cyanobacteria since fossil records indicate that cyanobacteria arose before algae and plants.

Therefore, we expect to find relatively the same colors in the same order in all of the TLC strips. This experiment and these results may be able to help provide further evidence for evolutionary timelines.

Materials and Methods

The species used were Anabena, Porphyra sp., Fucus sp., Chlorella sp., and spinach (biology 108 lab manual, 2012). The species were divided into the four benches so each bench extracted pigments from one of the species. Each group prepared chromatographs from the acetone extracts of each of the five representatives and was then separated by thin layer chromatography.

Results

The class results for the chromatographs were conclusive. All...