Diurnal Modification of a Red-Tide Causing Organism, Chattonella antiqua (Raphidophyceae) from Korea

Abstract

Blooms of Chattonella species are normally during summer in inland seas with high nutrients from the land and inflowing water. These blooms cause mass fish kills worldwide. We isolated a Chattonella strain from the south coast of Korea and identified it as C. antiqua. It is known that the morphological changes of phytoplankton correspond to the diurnal vertical migrations that follow an intrinsic biological clock and a nutrient acquisition mechanism during the day and night. In electron micrographs, C. antiqua clearly showed a radial distribution of lipid bodies in subcellular regions and plastids composed in which thylakoid layers were perpendicular to the surface. A single pyrenoid was present in each plastid and it was found at the end of the plastid towards the center of the cell. Throughout the day, plastids of C. antiqua cells appeared as an expanded net-like recticulum. During the night, however, the plastids changed their shape and contracted toward the cell periphery. The electron density of pyrenoids was increased in cells harvested during the night.