Light-limited growth of two strains of the marine diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum Bohlin: Chemical composition, carbon partitioning and the diel periodicity of physiological processes

Abstract

Two isolates of the marine pennate diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum Bohlin were grown in semi-continuous, nutrient-sufficient culture at varying irradiances on a 12-h light, 12-h dark illumination cycle. The reponse of the isolates to varying degrees of light limitation differed with respect to all of the compositional parameters measured, including growth rates, elemental composition, chlorophyll content, and the partitioning of cellular carbon into four biochemical classes: proteins, lipids, polysaccharides, and low-molecular weight intermediates. The isolates also differed with respect to the relative contributions of light-period and dark-period uptake to the total uptake of ammonium and phosphate ions, although in all cases uptake took place at a reduced rate in the dark. They did not differ with respect to the diel periodicity of cell division, chlorophyll synthesis, and biochemical synthesis. Slightly more cell division took place during the dark period than during the light period. The specific rate of chlorophyll synthesis in the light period, when expressed as a function of irradiance, saturated rapidly; the rate was nearly constant for all irradiances > 100 βE · m −2 · s −1. Chlorophyll synthesis in the dark was positively correlated with irradiance over the entire range of irradiances, except where photoinhibition was involved. Protein was synthesized in both the light and dark periods, but at a reduced rate in the dark. Polysaccharides were synthesized during the light period and consumed during the dark period. Lipids and low molecular weight intermediates were synthesized during the light period, but showed little net change during the dark period.