The Carotenoid Hydrocarbons of Euglena gracilis and Derived Mutants.

An examination of the carotene fractions extracted from Euglena gracilis Z and pressure-bleached Euglena mutants PR-1, PR-2, PR-3, and PR-4 revealed phytoene in mutants PR-1, PR-2, and PR-3. Photosynthetic E. gracilis Z cultured at different light intensities showed no detectable phytoene, nor was phytoene found in mutant PR-4. However, dark-cultured E. gracilis Z yielded readily assayable amounts of phytoene. With the exception of PR-4, in which no C(40) carotenoids were detected, the following carotenes were identified in all from their mass spectra: phytoene, phytofluene, zeta-carotene, beta-zeacarotene, and beta-carotene. Of these, phytoene and beta-zeacarotene had not previously been unequivocally identified in Euglena.