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- Title
Red algae acclimate to low light by modifying phycobilisome composition to maintain efficient light harvesting.
- Authors
Voerman, Sofie E.; Ruseckas, Arvydas; Turnbull, Graham A.; Samuel, Ifor D. W.; Burdett, Heidi L.
- Abstract
Background: Despite a global prevalence of photosynthetic organisms in the ocean's mesophotic zone (30–200+ m depth), the mechanisms that enable photosynthesis to proceed in this low light environment are poorly defined. Red coralline algae are the deepest known marine benthic macroalgae — here we investigated the light harvesting mechanism and mesophotic acclimatory response of the red coralline alga Lithothamnion glaciale. Results: Following initial absorption by phycourobilin and phycoerythrobilin in phycoerythrin, energy was transferred from the phycobilisome to photosystems I and II within 120 ps. This enabled delivery of 94% of excitations to reaction centres. Low light intensity, and to a lesser extent a mesophotic spectrum, caused significant acclimatory change in chromophores and biliproteins, including a 10% increase in phycoerythrin light harvesting capacity and a 20% reduction in chlorophyll-a concentration and photon requirements for photosystems I and II. The rate of energy transfer remained consistent across experimental treatments, indicating an acclimatory response that maintains energy transfer. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that responsive light harvesting by phycobilisomes and photosystem functional acclimation are key to red algal success in the mesophotic zone.
- Subjects
RED algae; CORALLINE algae; ENERGY transfer; LIGHT intensity; PHYCOBILISOMES; PHOTOSYNTHESIS
- Publication
BMC Biology, 2022, Vol 20, Issue 1, p1
- ISSN
1741-7007
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1186/s12915-022-01480-3