Effects of light quality on chlorophyll-forms Ca 684, Ca 690 and Ca 699 of the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum

Spectral Properties and Excitation Relaxation of Novel Fucoxanthin Chlorophyll a/c-Binding Protein Complexes

Fucoxanthin chlorophyll a/c-binding proteins (FCPs) are unique light harvesters for some photosynthetic organisms. There were several reports for the alterations of FCPs in response to light conditions. Here, we present the spectral profiles and excitation dynamics of novel FCP complexes isolated from the diatom Chaetoceros gracilis. Under a red-light condition, C. gracilis cells expressed three types of FCP complexes, two of which are very similar to FCP complexes found in the white-light grown cells, and one of which is the novel FCP complex. The combination of steady-state absorption and fluorescence spectra and time-resolved fluorescence spectra revealed that, compared to other types of FCP complexes, the novel FCP complexes exhibited red-shifted absorption and fluorescence spectra and fast decay of excitation. This finding will provide new insights into not only the light-harvesting strategies of diatoms but also the diversity of light adaptation machinery for photosynthetic organisms.

Sterol composition of phaeodactylum tricornutum as influenced by growth temperature and light spectral quality

In a detailed sterol analysis of the marine diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum, free sterols as well as esterified and glycosylated conjugates were found. When the alga was grown under standard conditions (i.e., at 13 degrees C under white light), 64% of total sterols were steryl glycosides. In all sterol classes, except steryl esters, (24S)-24-methylcholesta-5,22E-dien-3 beta-ol (epibrassicasterol) was the major (80 to 99%) sterol component. Eight other sterols were identified. Growth under different light spectral quality (red, blue, yellow, and green) at 13 and 23 degrees C was examined. At 23 degrees C, a dramatic decrease in total sterol content was observed, especially under blue light. The distribution of sterols between free and conjugated forms as well as sterol profile inside each class was found to be strongly dependent on the light spectral quality at both temperatures.

Subunit organization of PSI particles from brown algae and diatoms: polypeptide and pigment analysis

P700 enriched fractions were isolated from two brown algae and one diatom using sucrose density centrifugation after digitinin solubilization. They had a Chl a/P700 ratio of about 250 to 375 according to the species, they were enriched in long-wavelength absorbing Chl a and exhibited a fluorescence emission maximum at 77 K near 720 nm. They all presented a major polypeptide component at 66±2 kDa, but their polypeptide composition was rather complex and somewhat different from one species to another. Further solubilization with dodecylmaltoside of those 'native' PSI particles allowed the separation of two or three fractions. The lightest, xanthophyll-rich, fraction was identified to be a light-harvesting complex. It contained no P700 and had a major polypeptide of molecular weight near 20 kDa (at the same molecular weight than the respective LH 'native' fraction of each species) and exhibited a 77 K peak fluorescence emission at 685 nm. The other fractions were enriched in P700 and almost entirely depleted in xanthophylls. When two of them are present, they both exhibited a major polypeptide at 66±2 kDa and were totally devoid of the LH polypeptide, but the two fractions widely differed one from another in the abundance and molecular weight of the other polypeptide components. The most purified of these two fractions presented a composition similar to PSI core complex from green plants.

Chlorophyll fluorescence transients from the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum: relative rates of cyclic phosphorylation and chlororespiration

In Phaeodactylum tricornutum cells kept 30 min in the dark, induction of fluorescence showed the well-known levels OIDPSMT. The decrease of MT was the most important when the intensity of excitation light was high. It was mainly due to the photochemical quenching. After addition of DCMU (2 to 20 μM), a quenching qE was still observed: this quenching, cancelled by NH4Cl (2 to 20 mM) is attributed to ΔpH. This qE was also inhibited by antimycin, an inhibitor of cyclic phosphorylation and may be of chlororespiration above plastoquinones. Anaerobiosis also decreased it. We can infer that chlororespiration also plays a part in the formation of the ΔpH in the presence of DCMU. After 30 mn of preillumination in red light, the levels P and M were lower and the quenching in presence of DCMU was no more observed: thus, neither the chlororespiration nor the cyclic phosphorylation were active, unless the activity of ATPase was much more important. So, in diatoms, one at least of the above cited phenomena can be modulated by light.