Elucidation of catabolic processes of chlorophylls in marine and lacustrine environments

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Chlorophylls are essential biomolecules for photosynthesis yet also phototoxic to generate singlet oxygen, a highly toxic reactive oxygen for organisms. The present research elucidated that aquatic protists feeding on microalgae degradate chlorophylls into detoxified catabolites “cyclo-enols”. This cyclo-enol catabolism is common among diverse groups of protists and also ubiquitously generated in any aquatic environments, suggesting significant contributions of such protists in aquatic material and energy flows. The catabolism has also been critical for the endosymbiotic evolutionary processes of algae.