Effects of short-term irradiation on photoinhibition and accumulation of mycosporine-like amino acids in sun and shade species of the red algal genus Porphyra

Abstract

The effect of irradiance (40 and 840 μmol photons m −2 s −1) of short-term (48 h) irradiation on photosynthetic activity (estimated as oxygen evolution and as chlorophyll fluorescence), specific absorption and fluorescence excitation spectra, photosynthetic pigment accumulation (chlorophyll a and biliproteins) and UV-absorbing compounds (mycosporine-like amino acids, MAAs) was investigated in sun and shade species of the red algal genus Porphyra collected in Trondheimsfjord (Norway). In the sun type, high irradiance exposure (840 μmol photons m −2 s −1) did not alter the Chl a concentration, however, exposure to a lower irradiance (40 μmol photons m −2 s −1) for 48 h significantly increased the chlorophyll concentration. The content of MAAs was significantly higher in the suntype than in the shade type algae. Porphyra-334 is the main MAA in this species followed by shinorine. The total content of MAAs significantly ( P<0.05) increased in the sun type after 48 h exposure to both high and low irradiances. However, in the shade type, porphyra-334 significantly decreased ( P<0.05) after both high and low irradiance exposure. Photosynthetic activity (as oxygen evolution) and the optimal quantum yield ( F v/ F m), as an indicator of photoinhibition, decreased under low and high irradiance in the shade type algae and no full recovery was observed when the algae were transferred to very low irradiation.The sun type algae presented a higher capacity of acclimation to increased irradiance than the shade type algae. This high acclimation of sun type algae to short term high irradiance exposure (48 h) is explained by the higher thermal dissipation. This was estimated as the ratio of nonphotochemical quenching related to the light dose ( q N:dose) and by the accumulation of MAAs.