myxoxanthin, n. Biochem.
Brit. /ˌmɪksə(ʊ)ˈzanθɪn/, U.S. /ˌmɪksoʊˈzænθɪn/
[‹ myxo- (in scientific Latin Myxophyceae: see myxophycean adj.) + xanthin n.]
A carotenoid pigment found in cyanobacteria (blue-green algae), now identified as 4-oxo-β-carotene (echinenone).
| 1935 I. M. Heilbron et al. in Nature 21 Dec. 989/2 We have observed the presence of a peculiar carotenoid... The pigment, for which we propose the name myxoxanthin, crystallises from ether-methyl alcohol in deep copper-coloured needles. 1954 Science 30 Apr. 605/2 When the sediments recorded a change to a dystrophic (acid, bog water) lake, myxoxanthin was no longer found. 1969 New Phytologist 68 601 The Cyanophyta contain only β-carotene and its derivatives including echinenone (4-oxo-β-carotene), formerly unidentified as myxoxanthin. 1988 Limnol. & Oceanogr. 33 109/2 The strongest attenuation was found in the blue-green range of the spectrum between 430 and 530 nm where..carotenoids such as..myxoxanthin in the cyanobacteria have absorption maxima. |