Effects of high-frequency light fluctuations on growth and photoacclimation of the red algaChondrus crispus

High-frequency fluctuations due to wavefocusing are prominent characteristics of light in shallow marine environments. Effects of high-frequency (0.01 to 1 Hz) fluctuating light on growth rates of the red algaChondrus crispus Stackh., collected from Crane Neck Point, New York, USA, during July 1988, were determined by comparing plants grown under fluctuating and constant light regimes with similar daily irradiances. At high daily irradiance, growth rates were higher under fluctuating light than under constant light. Fluctuating light effects were frequency-dependent; growth was enhanced by fluctuations at 0.1 and 1 Hz, but not by fluctuations at 0.01 Hz. At low daily irradiance, growth rates were not affected by fluctuating light at any frequency tested. Enhancement of growth was not due to effects of high-frequency light fluctuations on photoacclimation responses ofC. crispus. Plants grown under fluctuating light at high daily irradiance actually exhibited lower photosynthetic capacity and efficiency (determined under constant light) than plants grown under constant light. These differences were attributable to variation in the density of Photosystem II reaction centers, which was low in plants grown under fluctuating light. Maximum turnover rate of whole-chain electron transport and activity of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase were affected by total daily irradiance, but not by high-frequency light fluctuations. Enhancement of growth under fluctuating light was partly attributable to reduced rates of dark respiration compared to rates of plants grown under constant light. The results also provided indirect evidence that high-frequency light fluctuations may enhance instantaneous photosynthetic rates. This effect could increase daily carbon gain and, therefore, stimulate growth ofC. crispus under high-frequency light fluctuations.

[1]  R. W. Pearcy.  Photosynthetic Utilisation of Lightflecks by Understory Plants , 1988 .

[2]  R. Bidwell,et al.  Tank Cultivation of Irish Moss, Chondrus crispus Stackh. , 1985 .

[3]  C. Osmond,et al.  Relationship between Photosynthesis and Respiration: The Effect of Carbohydrate Status on the Rate of CO(2) Production by Respiration in Darkened and Illuminated Wheat Leaves. , 1983, Plant physiology.

[4]  L. Gross.  PHOTOSYNTHETIC DYNAMICS IN VARYING LIGHT ENVIRONMENTS: A MODEL AND ITS APPLICATION TO WHOLE LEAF CARBON GAIN' , 1982 .

[5]  Howard R. Gordon,et al.  LIGHT FIELD FLUCTUATIONS IN THE PHOTIC ZONE1 , 1968 .

[6]  T. Sharkey,et al.  Contribution of Metabolites of Photosynthesis to Postillumination CO(2) Assimilation in Response to Lightflects. , 1986, Plant physiology.

[7]  F. I. Dromgoole.  Light fluctuations and the photosynthesis of marine algae. II: Photosynthetic response to frequency, phase ratio and amplitude , 1988 .

[8]  F. Bréchignac,et al.  Oxygen Uptake and Photosynthesis of the Red Macroalga, Chondrus crispus , in Seawater , 1984 .

[9]  D. Pollard.  The effect of rapidly changing light on the rate of photosynthesis in Largetooth Aspen (Populus grandidentata). , 1970 .

[10]  D. Turpin,et al.  Transient photosynthetic responses of nitrogen limited macroalgae to nitrogen addition , 1985 .

[11]  R. W. Pearcy,et al.  Photosynthetic Responses to Dynamic Light Environments by Hawaiian Trees : Time Course of CO(2) Uptake and Carbon Gain during Sunflecks. , 1985, Plant physiology.

[12]  E. Cosper.  EFFECTS OF VARIATIONS IN LIGHT INTENSITY ON THE EFFICIENCY OF GROWTH OF SKELETONEMA COSTATUM (BACILLARIOPHYCEAE) IN A CYCLOSTAT 1 , 1982 .

[13]  D. Turpin,et al.  Ammonium Assimilation Requires Mitochondrial Respiration in the Light : A Study with the Green Alga Selenastrum minutum. , 1988, Plant physiology.

[14]  V. A. Gerard.  Ecotypic differentiation in light-related traits of the kelp Laminaria saccharina , 1988 .

[15]  J. Myers,et al.  Growth Rate of Chlorella in Flashing Light. , 1954, Plant physiology.

[16]  J. P. Cooper.  Crop processes in controlled environments: A. R. Rees, K. E. Cockshull, D. W. Hand and R. G. Hurd (Editors). Academic Press, London and New York, 1972, xiii + 391 pp., £6.50 , 1973 .

[17]  T. G. Owens,et al.  Effects of growth irradiance levels on the ratio of reaction centers in two species of marine phytoplankton. , 1981, Plant physiology.

[18]  Paul G. Falkowski,et al.  Growth‐irradiance relationships in phytoplankton1 , 1985 .

[19]  J. Myers,et al.  The photosynthetic unit in chlorella measured by repetitive short flashes. , 1971, Plant physiology.

[20]  T. A. Kursar,et al.  Light-Harvesting System of the Red Alga Gracilaria tikvahiae: I. Biochemical Analyses of Pigment Mutations. , 1983, Plant physiology.

[21]  Hilbert Schenck,et al.  On the Focusing of Sunlight by Ocean Waves , 1957 .

[22]  L. Legendre,et al.  Effets des fluctuations rapides de la lumière sur la photosynthèse du phytoplancton , 1982 .

[23]  B. Quéguiner,et al.  Phytoplankton photosynthetic adaptation to high frequency light fluctuations simulating those induced by sea surface waves , 1986 .

[24]  J. Barrett,et al.  Light-harvesting processes in algae , 1983 .

[25]  D. Graham.  Effects of Light on “Dark” Respiration , 1980 .

[26]  G. F. Humphrey,et al.  New spectrophotometric equations for determining chlorophylls a, b, c1 and c2 in higher plants, algae and natural phytoplankton , 1975 .

[27]  Louis Legendre,et al.  Photosynthesis of natural phytoplankton under high frequency light fluctuations simulating those induced by sea surface waves1 , 1983 .

[28]  Paul G. Falkowski,et al.  Light-saturated photosynthesis — Limitation by electron transport or carbon fixation? , 1987 .

[29]  F. I. Dromgoole.  Photosynthesis of Marine Algae in Fluctuating Light. I. Adjustment of Rate in Constant and Fluctuating Light Regimes , 1987 .

[30]  M. Stitt,et al.  Limitation of Photosynthesis by Carbon Metabolism : I. Evidence for Excess Electron Transport Capacity in Leaves Carrying Out Photosynthesis in Saturating Light and CO(2). , 1986, Plant physiology.

[31]  B. Whitton.  Handbook of Phycological Methods. Physiological and Biochemical Methods , 1979 .

[32]  J. H. M. Thornley,et al.  Mathematical models in plant physiology , 1976 .

[33]  T. V. Marsho,et al.  [47] Detection and isolation of P700 , 1971 .

[34]  E. Cosper.  Effects of diurnal fluctuations in light intensity on the efficiency of growth of Skeletonema costatum (Grev.) Cleve (Bacillariophyceae) in a cyclostat , 1982 .

[35]  F. Bréchignac,et al.  Oxygen Uptake and Photosynthesis of the Red Macroalga, Chondrus crispus, in Seawater: Effects of Oxygen Concentration. , 1984, Plant physiology.

[36]  J. Thornley.  Light Fluctuations and Photosynthesis , 1974 .

[37]  M. Fréchette,et al.  Photosynthèse phytoplanctonique: Réponse à un stimulus simple, imitant les variations rapides de la lumière engendrées par les vagues☆ , 1978 .

[38]  V. A. Gerard.  The light environment in a giant kelp forest: influence of Macrocystis pyrifera on spatial and temporal variability , 1984 .

[39]  J. Ramus,et al.  Diurnal photosynthetic performance of seaweeds measured under natural conditions , 1980 .

[40]  E. Laws,et al.  Carbon and nitrogen metabolism by Monochrysis lutheri: Measurement of growth-rate-dependent respiration rates , 1976 .

[41]  D. Mauzerall,et al.  Kinetic evidence for common photosynthetic step in diverse seaweeds , 1980 .

[42]  J. Wiskich.  Control of the krebs cycle , 1980 .

[43]  J. Mclachlan,et al.  Carbon nutrition of seaweeds: Photosynthesis, photorespiration and respiration , 1985 .

[44]  F.W.T. Penning de Vries,et al.  Respiration and growth , 1972 .

[45]  J. Dera,et al.  Wave-Induced Light-Field Fluctuations in the Sea , 1970 .

[46]  B. Kê,et al.  Difference spectra and extinction coefficients of P 700 . , 1972, Biochimica et biophysica acta.

[47]  Paul G. Falkowski,et al.  Physiological responses of phytoplankton to natural light regimes , 1984 .