Xanthurenic Acid in the Shell Purple Patterns of Crassostrea gigas: First Evidence of an Ommochrome Metabolite in a Mollusk Shell

• Published in: Molecules
• Main Authors: Bonnard, Michel, Boury, Bruno, Parrot, Isabelle
• Other Authors: Institut des Biomolécules Max Mousseron Pôle Chimie Balard (IBMM), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Chimie du CNRS (INC)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Montpellier (ENSCM), Institut Charles Gerhardt Montpellier - Institut de Chimie Moléculaire et des Matériaux de Montpellier (ICGM ICMMM), Université Montpellier 1 (UM1)-Université Montpellier 2 - Sciences et Techniques (UM2)-Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Montpellier (ENSCM)-Institut de Chimie du CNRS (INC)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2021
• Subjects: [CHIM]Chemical Sciences; Crassostrea gigas
• Online Access: https://hal.umontpellier.fr/hal-03516064; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26237263

International audience Ommochromes are one of the least studied groups of natural pigments, frequently confused with melanin and, so far, exclusively found in invertebrates such as cephalopods and butterflies. In this study focused on the purple color of the shells of a mollusk, Crassostrea gigas, the first evidence of a metabolite of ommochromes, xanthurenic acid (XA), was obtained by liquid chromatography combined with mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS). In addition to XA and various porphyrins previously identified, a second group of high molecular weight acid-soluble pigments (HMASP) has been identified with physicochemical and structural characteristics similar to those of ommochromes. In addition, fragmentation of HMASP by tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) has revealed a substructure common to XA and ommochromes of the ommatin type. Furthermore, the presence of melanins was excluded by the absence of characteristic by-products among the oxidation residues of HMASP. Altogether, these results show that the purple color of the shells of Crassostrea gigas is a complex association of porphyrins and ommochromes of potentially ommatin or ommin type.